#but the reason i can get away with creating and characterising the way i do is because i am working on them all ALONE

[xhanisai]

I can’t believe I have to say this again.

But like.

Do not leave comments that bash on the actual show whilst ‘complimenting’ my fanworks. It does not make me happy at all IN FACT I really HATE it when people do that. 

I create stuff for this fandom because I adore the show with all its flaws and everything. I grew up with the show and I adore the characters so much. So when I receive comments or tags saying stuff like “Ugh if only the writers knew how to write like that” or “You should be in charge of canon cos canon is shit lol”, it just fucks up my mood and it makes me feel grossed out. 

There are millions of things out there to write or say to other people about their work without having to bring down canon and what the actual professionals have worked on.

Keep your gripes about the show off my work.

[vampire-wizard-solidarity]

@your-local-ruebit-hole-detective ok i’m sorry but. i will answer your question.

age of calamity advertises itself as a prequel but in reality it’s a fix-it au with slight differences and writing that’s pretty bad but i have grown to appreciate it for how insane it goes sometimes.

the actual plot is that as a child zelda used to have a little egg-like guardian robot that she was forced to leave behind as she grew up due to her father’s pressure etc, and when the calamity happened this little robot saw it and traveled back in time with the goal to prevent this and protect zelda, creating a branching off timeline. there’s also an extra villain who is this prophet (???? this games writing isn’t good enough for me to tell you what his deal is exactly) who worships ganon and for most of the game works with the yiga to bring him back, except he’s more insane than them and works directly with malice and also sucks at his job because when he finally gets to ganon he unceremoniously dies and everybody’s like “yeah we have no idea what this guys deal was”.

the one significant change that doesnt have to do anything with time travel shenanigans is the fact that link doesn’t find the master sword as a child, but instead gets appointed zelda’s bodyguard for his genuine skill and then finds the master sword during one of the in game missions. despite this, revali still hates him, and often times when justifying this revali cites reasons that are literal complete opposites of how his grudge was characterised in botw, cementing revali’s characterisation as just a cunt for no reason. it’s great.

the significant time travel related change is that when all the champions go into their divine beasts and fight the blights a portal opens and the new champions (teba, sidon, riju, yunobo) get teleported in and help defeat the blights. zelda also doesn’t get her power by protecting link from a bunch of guardians, the scene still hits the same beats of link fighting things off so zelda can run away except in this game how it happens is that the insane prophet shows up and literally summons all the blights against link which makes the scene ten times more insane.

throughout the game the yiga show up regularly, often times with master kohga himself showing up and being the overall goofy guy he is, except he also has a hunk of a body guard who’s name i genuinely can’t recall. multiple times in the game kohga gets defeated and said hunk of a body guard throws him over his shoulder says “it’s not over yet” and walks off carrying kohga like a sac of potatoes.

in the original game, when shit starts hitting the fan the yiga stop showing up as enemies and at some point in the story kohga shows up without said hunk of a body guard, says “the prophet is insane and the calamity actually isn’t a good thing as we’ve discovered”, highly implies that the reason for his change of heart is because said prophet killed his hunk of a body guard (who literally. doesn’t show up again for the rest of the game mind you. he legit died), and is like “yeah the yiga will help you. after this whole thing is over we’ll go back to being bitches to you but rn let’s just kill this ganon guy and then walk our separate ways”. the fact that the calamity being a bad thing throws the yiga’s whole ideology and purpose into question is never addressed.

the dlc makes the death scene explicit, also making it a parallel to zelink by, again, making the bodyguard fight all the fucking blights so that kohga can escape. the scene literally opens with the body guard limping as they try to escape. it’s so much a parallel to zelink it’s insane. im afraid do not know what the hell they were cooking.

some other choice moments from this game that go insanely hard for no reason:

1. the first portion of the game is dedicated to zelda recruiting all the champions, and when it comes to recruiting revali he for some reason assumes it’s an attack, and sends all the rito soldiers to fight the intruders off. the rito do not question fighting some random hylians one of whom is literally zelda. the mission ends with a boss fight of link vs revali, which only ends without them killing each other because zelda runs in and goes “stop???? the fuck ????”

2. the entire game has cute bonding moments with the botw champions meeting their idols and getting to spend time with them. that is, except for sidon, who spends the game saving his older sister in a parallel universe which he has to leave by the end of the game, meaning every scene involving him has him on the brink of eleven hundred simultaneous mental breakdowns. the dlc adds a scene where the little sidon who is native to said parallel universe gets to interact with botw sidon, and botw sidon tells him that he’s going to grow up big and strong and will protect his sister, and the entire time he tries really hard to not acknowledge the fact that they are the same person, and that mipha is his sister too, presumably because nobody wanted to animate sidon ugly crying. in that scene you can literally see his soul die in his eyes it’s great

3. the dlc features tulin, god knows why. i don’t know how he got there or what he’s doing. he’s just there.

4. you can make noble pursuits in the game and drink them before missions for a buff. pre-gaming defeating the calamity is a thing, i cannot stress how much it is a thing in this game.

5. there are two separate animated cutscenes where link eats rocks on screen. only one of them involves the gorons, the other is a scene where link is being discussed and as the characters talk about how great he is in battle the camera pans to him eating rocks, seemingly on a dare from the other soldiers, who all surround him and are immensely excited by the fact that he is actually eating rocks.

6. the dlc features a scene where zelda gets to cook. link is horrified the entire time. she does not belong in the kitchen. she belongs anywhere outside the kitchen. the dlc also gives her the master cycle as a weapon. she commits vehicular manslaughter

7. the king gets a redemption arc, where he apologises to zelda only after she unlocks her power. the reason he realized he was wrong was because a sheikah relic that he confiscated from zelda turned out to be an ancient shield and it saved his life from a guardian blast. his apology is literal dog shit and right after it the game forces you to play as him for a mission. it almost made me rage quit.

8. thunder blight has an attack where it just swings its hair at you

9. when you finally fight calamity ganon he doesn’t have the form of the spider ganon from botw or even the boar, he is instead a buff guy made out of malice. literally just the shape of a buff non descript guy made out of malice. his boss fight is endless and the entire time you’re just beating the shit out of a non descript buff guy shape with a stick.

10. there’s a cute little side mission called something like “girls beauty contest” (in reality they all beat the shit out of each other for the title), where you’re only allowed to select female characters. that is, female characters AND gorons. think of that what you will

[f1crecs]

Fic Rec List - Daniel/Max

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We've had a couple of Maxiel related asks recently so thought this was the perfect time to get a general list together! :)

nsfw: give, give, take by hungerpunch and thermocline | E | 3.7k

PWP in which transmasc Max tops Daniel for the first time. This PWP is so hot your circuit board may be in danger, fair warning. The characterisations and dialogue are great, Daniel with terrible "sexy" lines and Max a little surprised but very willing to give it to Daniel when he asks for it. I really like how Max's (probably pretty understandable) expectations of Daniel are subverted by the request.

Daniel props himself up on a forearm, cradling his chin in his hand. “Maybe, but—” he affects what he probably thinks is a sultry moue. “—when are you gonna get me on your strap, though?” Max can’t help the way his eyes widen. They’ve been fucking long enough that he supposes it’s not weird of Daniel to ask, but normally the type of men he attracts aren't as… self-possessed about busting it open. He goes from vaguely tired and mellow to wide awake and horny in less than a second; his body suddenly more electricity than muscle. "Uhh," he thinks aloud, his mouth buffering a beat slower than his brain, "... now?"

wish you away in my dreams by @vicsy | M | 7.5k

This is a stunning story, that, through the medium of Max and Daniel's relationship, examines the concept of fear, loss, and misplaced emotions. Everything this writer shares is stunning, but I particularly loved the use of imagery in this one. Beautiful!

Before him, Daniel’s form is incandescent in a golden glimmer, his unruly curls illuminated like a halo around his head. It pulls a punched-out breath out of Max’s lungs. He’ll rip the reconciliation from out of his soul if he has to, he’ll race it to the end, do what he does best, not a drop of fear tipping the scales against him this time.

nsfw: Through the Ages by Bells33 and Whippasnappa | E | 9k

A beautiful examination of Daniel and Max over the years, from 2017 to 2023. Brilliant writing and incredible graphics are interspersed with facts and figures, and it makes for a truly special read.

And here’s the thing; when Daniel laughs, it makes Max laugh too. So they’re laughing, and Daniel is helping Max extricate himself from the table where it’s folded in a bit and grabbed him like a snappy crocodile. And then there’s just this fucking moment where Max is finally upright, they’re stood way too close, inches apart, and he’s still holding on to Max’s arms for some reason. They're the same height, now. Daniel can’t remember when that happened. One moment, he’d been taller than Max. And now, Max meets him directly eye to eye.

nsfw: tender is my heart by @missyourflight | E | 10.6k

This is a Never Let Me Go AU. Daniel works in a cafe by sea. One day, a man walks in and orders a meal. Daniel can tell there is something strange about him, but isn't sure quite what. Eventually, he learns that Max is a clone, created to be an organ donor. This fic is atmospheric, sad, and explores the horrific ethics of the situation Max has been born into. He has been conditioned since birth to accept and embrace his fate - that one day, his organs will be harvested and he will die so that others may live. Daniel is horrified but is fighting against a lifetime of indoctrination to make Max see why.

“Because I thought you were a fucking – closeted Mormon, not –” “I told you I was a donor, you could have asked me to explain, you could have asked me –” “Explain it now, then!” Daniel explodes. “Fucking go on and tell me, Max, I’m all ears.” When Mr Gianpiero had explained it to them, before he was sent away from Hailsham, he’d said, not unkindly and quite clearly, so they understood, “You’re not people, not legally. Your bodies are not your own.” And he’d told them the truth, about the donations. About how long they’d get. “It’s what I’m for,” Max says, the only explanation he has. “It’s not,” Daniel says, grabbing Max’s hands in his. “This –” They’re moving together, as close as they can get, their foreheads pressed against each other, salt on both their faces, and Max feels it, the way he feels it every time Daniel touches him, the rightness of it: this is what his body is for. “This is so fucked,” Daniel says, and it hits Max like ice water. “I shouldn’t have told you,” he says, and when he steps back Daniel doesn’t reach for him again.

nsfw: caught you coming alive by anonymous | E | 17.9k

This is a dystopian future AU in which people are matched by computer before marrying. They meet their matches while blindfolded and are expected to have sex to determine if they're physically attracted and compatible. Daniel is disillusioned and cynical about the process after years of failed matches. It's Max's first time. The ache of loneliness around Daniel is palpable, and Max's guilelessness is completely in character. Max is carrying the baggage of family expectations. Their connection is natural and immediate. The worldbuilding of the story is deft and elegant and never detracts from the character work. Also, it takes a very talented author to write double-blindfolded smut.

His hand is still resting against the inside of Daniel’s bicep, and he inhales like he’s preparing for something. It is so quiet for so long that Max almost asks if Daniel wants to stop. But then they are in motion again and his fingers travel across the crook of his elbow again to the top of his forearm. “I have a little cupid here,” and the Max’s hand is only there for a moment before it’s on the move again, down, “and a bit of love underneath him. In case he needs a boost.” There is a crack, minute, and so quiet Max wonders if he only heard it because he can’t see. Maybe he wouldn’t have noticed the hitch in Daniel’s voice if he was too caught up staring at his face or tracing tattoos he can only shape in his head. But it’s there. Breaking around the word love and not quite putting itself back together by the time he’s finished speaking. Max wishes he could see him, if only to lean in to kiss him without risking a black eye for them both. “And to round off the top half of the tour, we have my beautiful rose.” Daniel’s light, teasing tone is back, and he has laced their hands together, Max’s right in Daniel’s left. “If you just do this,” and he rubs his thumb across the top of Max’s hand, “you might feel it. No thorns to worry about.”

nsfw: glory, from a high rise by @yekoc | E | 24.3k

Another AU, this one featuring Daniel as a bartender and Max as a troubled finance worker who tries to drink (and fuck) his sorrows away. This is one of the first maxiel fics I ever read. It's kind of a greatest hit in Maxiel fandom to the point where I wondered if I should even rec it. But the chance of someone new coming along to the pairing and missing out on this masterpiece is one I can't bear to take. Max's sadness and self-punishment in this story is crushing, and his emotional unavailability makes this relationship's early stages very difficult. Daniel is emotionally mature enough to protect himself and be realistic and clear about what he wants and needs in a partner. It's a long journey for them (and us), but absolutely worth it.

He couldn’t look at Daniel. Daniel didn’t need to apologize; Max knew what he wanted was fucked up, something desperate and out of his control. With Daniel sometimes it had felt better, like it was something okay; like he was good. But Max got it. Daniel wanted a—a boyfriend, someone he took home and went out to dinner with and introduced to his family at Christmas. He was thirty. His friends had families. Daniel deserved that too. He would be good at it.

nsfw: one step closer and i'm real by whichisgolden | E | 24.7k

Max time travels through different universes and falls in love with every version of Daniel. I loved the ending so much (and I won't spoil it but it's absolutely adorable). I also loved the characterization of both Max and Daniel, it felt so real!

“Daniel kissed the side of his face, his eyebrow. “If I did choose,” he said, haltingly. “If I wanted to come back, and what you’re saying is right and you got zapped away into another dimension— I don’t think there’s any universe where I wouldn’t want to do this with you. All Daniel Ricciardos want to kiss you.” Max opened one eye. “What if I have the defective one?” Daniel burst into laughter. “I think we’re all defective, actually. That’s why we like you.” “Okay, shut up.” Max wrestled him down on the couch to kiss him, and then they had to go celebrate.

Anonymous by @boxboxbrioche | M | 26.4k

This fic is partially told through emails & social media messages, and takes place in a parallel-canon 2022 season, where F1 has taken some PR hits because the drivers are constantly getting into fights. The FIA hires an expert public relations manager, who has some... creative solutions, including an anonymous messaging feature between drivers. Every part of this makes me smile: the warm, dry humour, the perfect characterisation & Maxiel dynamic, the PR shenanigans... and, of course, the "anonymous" messages. It feels like a love letter to online friendships, not just anonymous ones - celebrating how you can be your honest self and share what you might not share with people irl (and, if you're Max and Daniel, fall in love all over again in the process!)

P.S. - A big congratulations to Roscoe Hamilton for signing on for a new modelling contract, showing off a range of very fashionable luxury dog jackets. Although the adage goes - ‘never work with children or animals’ - I do sometimes wonder if it would be easier on both counts.

nsfw: there was always warmth between us by @freeuselandonorris | E | 32.1k

Max brings a sex toy to a race and Daniel inevitably finds it. What ensues is rising sexual tension and tiptoeing around each other. I really liked this fic for how it made this single event, Daniel finding Max’s toy, into a deeper story with rising tension and a lot of humanness. I think that was my favourite part about it, how human both this Max and Daniel are, even within the context of sex. The character development was a lot of fun to read and made the pay off even more worth it!

Dan smiles at him in an unfocused sort of way, his hand brushing against Max’s knuckles. Max twitches. Is he doing it on purpose? He glances at Dan’s face but finds it inscrutable.

nsfw: come on, star boy by @yekoc | E | 42k

A high school football AU of Max and Daniel! Featuring past Brocedes and a little bit of angst with Jos being a sucky dad. They live in Alabama and it explores their story in high school love! I loved the writing style so much! I feel like high school AUs are also not super common in the F1 fandom, so it was so nice reading it!

“Do you miss it?” Daniel asks. “Not school, I mean. Soccer. Football.” “Yes,” Max says. He draws his feet up onto the seat and wraps his arms around his legs, chin on his knees. The strap of the seat belt pulls against his broad shoulders. It can’t be very comfortable. Daniel can’t get his head around it, that Max and his dad moved all the way to what, to fucking nowhere Alabama, so that he could play football instead of soccer; so that he could grab hold of some faint trail towards stardom.

nsfw: right where you left me by TheNorthRemembers | E | 54k

It's 2018, and Daniel and Max are driving for Red Bull. It's the Azerbaijan GP, and the inevitable crash happens. Max goes to sleep, but once he wakes up–he finds that he's in a time loop. This is my favorite time loop fic ever! "It's race day" quotes haunt me in my sleep in the best way possible, and the fic delves so much into Daniel leaving Red Bull and how Max deals with it.

All Max can do is stare, his heart beating so hard, he can feel it in his voice as he speaks. “You are leaving.” How are they supposed to be together if Daniel is leaving? If he hates racing with Max so much that he wants to give up his seat with Red Bull, his chance at winning, at winning it all. How can they- He never says ‘I love you’ but he just called Max a child, he just said he’d leave. And what the fuck does that say about them? About Daniel’s feelings for Max? “I’m doing what is best for my career,” Daniel says, like that means anything at all.

this list was compiled by @lydia-petze, @boxboxbrioche, @maaxverstappen, @blueballsracing, @singsweetmelodies

[jasminedragonart]

We all know that I think Brother Bear is the Magnum Opus of Disney and I've elaborated on that in a previous post. This one will therefore be dedicated to Pixar's Magnum Opus.

Moana, I hear you ask? Inside Out? Up?

No.

The Incredibles.

In order for it to be an amazing film there has to be layers to it. Inside Out, to me, is pretty one dimensional. I didn't get a lot out of it. Moana was okay, but nothing special, like I didn't hate it but I didn't love it.

But the Incredibles? It was amazing.

To start off with, this came out in 2004. Do you know what other superhero films were out in this era? Spider Man. Tobey McGuire's Spiderman. Other than that, the superhero franchise hadn't really hit off. It would be years until Iron Man, Captain America or even the Dark Knight would have the impact it would have on cinema. (The Dark Knight trilogy is great btw. I love and accept it as canon way more readily than I do the Snyder verse. That verse can go away and never see the light of day)

the point is, for this movie to have survived, nay, thrive, in a superhero-less world is astounding and I think that's just down to good writing, characterisation and the story itself.

To start off with, I didn't know this was set in the 60's until like, a month ago. But now I do know I love it. It fits so well and answers so many questions. The 60's were like the golden age of heros, or, what we call the golden age. You had the batman show in the 60's, you had the golden age of comics. It's just right that the Incredibles is set in the 60's too.

In terms of storytelling this is good too. We see that they still have phones and computers and tv's but they're limited. No smart phones, the technology that we would see in present day is high tech to them. I love it because it isolates the characters so well. The reason why a lot of shows these days die is because they set it in our modern world. The convenience we have in being able to send messages to each other is just ridiculous. In order to create a good story you need a way to isolate your characters. There needs to be mystery. By limiting the Incredibles to what was available in the 60's Brad Bird eliminated the questions on why Mr Incredible didn't just send a text to his wife or Edna that he was in danger. Why the other heros didn't ask for help. Their technology is limited, their data plan is nonexistent, they can't contact people across the world and this is great for creating an interesting story.

Starting back at the beginning, I think it's really interesting how we're introduced to Buddy. A lot of superhero sidekicks are literally found like Buddy was hoping to be found. He has the intelligence too. He basically did a Tim Drake. He tracked Mr Incredible down, he made himself available and he showed that he had the skills to at least be a good hero. The only difference here is that Mr Incredible's world isn't Batman's world. Buddy didn't persevere like Tim Drake did, he took his knowledge and he twisted it for evil which, again is such a good analysis or interpretation of what Tim Drake could have been if he didn't put on those Robin colours and force Batman to take him on board.

Then we get to the lawsuit. So, if you didn't get it, the Incredibles kind of honoured marvel here. I think X Men was out by now. It should have been. Yes. It was out in 2000. So the concept of mutants being second class citizens was known to those who watched the beginning of the MCU. The Incredibles is paying homage to this by making supers illegal. The supers are creating too much damage, they're doing more harm than good. Therefore the common people are fighting back and making them retreat back into the shadows. Again, an interesting concept because what happened to all these villains? What happened when Bon Voyage escaped prison again? How many people did he kill without Mr Incredible there to help catch him? We don't know but it's always been a wonder of mine as to how the world is as peaceful as it is when we catch up with the Incredibles in present day. How did they get to that point?

I'll never know.

Mr Incredible and Elastigirl, I think are Batman and Catwoman. I think. Meta Batman and Catwoman. They have the same feel, the same banter of Batman and Catoman but they could be another superhero couple. Either way, they have their happy ending by getting married and having kids

There's an interesting post out there explaining the kids names and the connection to their powers which I loved. So, yeah, dash- superspeed. He's the Flash, he's quicksilver. He's basically kid flash right now, or impulse since, is impulse born with his powers? Whatever the case, he doesn't quite know the extent of his powers just yet because he grew up in a world where supers are in hiding. Which, again, makes me question what happens to those heros who don't hide. There had to be a penalty for them beyond being sued. Back to the kids. Violet- ultraviolet light that can be invisible. There's also something about her being a teenager and keeping everyone out which is why she has her forcefields. She's also Susan Storm, that's the inspiration for her character's powers. Jack Jack is jack of all trades. His inspiration, I think, is Legion. I'm not too sure. Either way, I love their names and how they tie into their characters and powers.

Helen and Bob are aliases. People know that right? I'm pretty sure they got different identities through the years after their covers were blown. They would have to. Even in the 60's people could be tracked down, that's why they have this rehoming program for supers. It makes me wonder what Bob and Helen's real names are. I think they're alias's anyway. Either way, their last name would have to have changed over the years. At the beginning of the movie it's Parr which means average.

Which is what they're trying to be. They're trying to be average. But they aren't, that's the whole point of the movie. They're the only ones who are capable of doing what the government, what ordinary people, can't. They're the only ones who can adapt and put themselves in danger to stop Syndrome who spent his entire teenage and adult life trying to destroy supers. The whole message of the movie is there at the beginning. Violet and Dash can't help but use their powers because it's a part of them. They aren't normal, they're never going to be normal and they shouldn't have to be.

Mirage is an interesting character to look at. She's very Bond esque. It felt like they were mixing genres by introducing her but it works. She's a powerful woman at the head of an organisation. But then there are layers to her. Her name is literally Mirage, she's not what she seems. She looks good but is secretly working for Syndrome. But the real message is that she's on the bad guy's team but she's not a bad person. She does what's right for Mr Incredible, she lets him and his family go. She also suffers the Bond girl trope where she's either killed off or injured but her character arc is kind of over at this point so it works. That's the point with some tropes, they're not necessarily good but they work because they serve a purpose. Mirage doesn't need to be in the picture anymore so she needs an excuse to not be there. She's injured, easy, she's out of the picture now. It's not bad writing, it's just practical writing. Otherwise we'd be asking where she was.

I think I want to dedicate this part of why the Incredibles is amazing to focus on the super's graveyard. Not only the one Syndrome made, but the ways the supers have died over the years. Edna describes so many supers dying from such mundane things like a costume malfunction. How many of them perished before Edna refused to give them a cape? How many funerals were there over the years?

I think it's also important we focus on the supers graveyard for another reason too. Bob isn't the only super out there that feels like his purpose in life was taken away. The reason why these people take such mundane jobs as covers is because they have something else in their lives that makes them feel fulfilled. By not being allowed to fulfill that purpose they're only left with the mundane, and for us it's okay because this is the only thing we know, but for them? With their powers? It must feel so... disheartening or another word I can't think of right now. But to be talked down to, to not be recognised. It's not narcissism that has them out there helping people. They're good people trying to do good in the world because they can. It's sad that they can't, and it's horrible that this good nature is took advantage of by Syndrome. He murdered them horrifically. He turned their strengths against them, he made a murder bot, isolated them on an island, and had them hunted down just because he was told to go home as a child. To not be put in danger like kids shouldn't be put in.

It begs the question again, what happened to the other villains? Where are they? Why is Syndrome the only one we see appear in this gap of superhero history? I was expecting the 2nd Incredibles to focus on more villains that had cropped up in the shadows while they were gone but it didn't. Not really. the 2nd one wasn't as good as the 1st one. It was good, but it was lacking the layers the 1st one has. The questions on why and where. A lot of the new one was focused more on the family than the plot where as the first one had a good balance of the two.

Anyway, back to the analysis. This is such a good origin movie for Violet, Dash and Jack Jack. You have the mentors in Mr and Mrs Incredible, the ones who are experienced and handling a lot of the action. Then you have the young ones finding their powers and discovering what they can do, what they're capable of. You feel happy when you see Violet protect her brother with her shield. You're elated when Dash can run on water. They're little things that an experienced hero isn't able to elicit because they're used to their powers and we see this in the ease Mr Incredible has in himself and his capabilities, same as Mrs Incredible when she's worming her way into the compound. This movie is both an origin movie as well as kind of like a comeback. Mr and Mrs Incredible are out of retirement and the kids are stepping up into roles they never dreamed they could have.

The colour story is good too. Mr Incredible's old suit is blue. It's the suit he wore as a standalone hero. It's the suit he wears when he goes out with Frozone and the suit he wears on the island for the first time. It's the suit he wears where he's separated from his family. He's blue, he's alone. Red is a danger colour, it's passion, it's what groups this family together. They are the danger to Syndrome. They also have the yellow there to lesson the impact of the red. It's a happy colour, very soothing and lets us know that they're on the good team. It's also Elastigirl's old colour, or one of them. It's Bob finally including Helen in his life

There's a lot more to this movie I can't think of it right now.

Pixar peaked with this movie though.

[the-judicial-assistants-notebook]

You know, I think what really bugs me about the "Dadworth" dynamic applied to Kay and Edgeworth's relationship is that it usually makes Kay out to be this hyperactive, slight problem child (in the 'stealing and pranking' sense rather than the 'moody and abrasive' sense), occasionally with deep-rooted daddy issues like Edgeworth has, when that's... the opposite of her character.

(This post got away from me, so TL;DR: Kay is a quick-witted and independent young woman who has worked very hard to be both emotionally and practically intelligent enough to be seen as a legitimate successor to her father's legacy. Making her out to be the traits mentioned above, so she functions as Edgeworth's daughter rather than his investigative partner and equal, undermines her character and semi-conflates her with Maya [the deep-rooted issues bit]. Also I don't like it wksgskaj)

Kay is very, very sharp.

The thing about Kay is that she's not actually in the series as much as it feels like she is, which makes it easy for her character to be altered to suit the needs of the story (which I think happens in The Forgotten Turnabout, but I won't talk about that here). She turns up in two cases as herself in AAI (as in, teenager Kay whom we're most familiar with) and shares her role with Gumshoe, Ema and Franziska when she does, lessening her appearances even further. Nevertheless, there are still concrete elements to her personality that we're made aware of right from the beginning, and the first major one which I feel gets overlooked in favour of her hyperactive characterisation is this:

In terms of mainline assistants, I'd consider her the sharpest of all (maybe after Trucy? But I don't remember enough of AJ to comment on that). Yes, she's shown to be reckless and impulsive, but, when it comes to actual investigating and reasoning, she is solid. With Nick and Maya, you sometimes get the impression that they're both fumbling along until Phoenix catches on (most of the time with Maya's usually a little accidental help, and he still has to explain things to her near every time [not Maya's fault. Following Phoenix's reasoning is like being on a rollercoaster in a minecart]), but Kay is very rarely like that with Edgeworth. Within minutes of meeting him, she can predict what he's going to say (or 'steal his lines', as the game puts it), and there are several moments after he uses Logic and is about to explain what he's connected where Kay interrupts with the correct conclusion herself:

Edgeworth: A second Blue Badger that shouldn't exist... Clearly, the true identity of the person underneath is...

Kay: Oh, I know! It's one of the kidnappers, right!?

There's even a point where she tells him off for overexplaining things to her:

Kay: Yeesh, I told you I got it! Do you feel the need to explain everything!?

And, near the end of their first case together, he acknowledges that's she's generally quite quick:

Kay: OK, what should I re-create first?

Edgeworth: ...You haven't figured it out yet?

Kay: Heh, maybe I have, and maybe I haven't.

Even if you don't take these points into consideration, the fact that she comes up with a new way to use Little Thief, and knows how to use it at all actually, shows you that she's a really intelligent girl! Continuing on a bit from the point I made earlier about her being brash, Kay may be reckless, but she isn't irresponsible. Whenever she rushes into situations, she doesn't expect other people to come save her; she's quite assured that she can and will get herself out of them on her own, and, if she needs help, she asks for it in advance. She treats Edgeworth less like her guardian and more like her investigative partner:

Kay: I didn't get permission to enter Allebahst... so we're going to go gather whatever info we can over on the Babahlese side, OK!?

Edgeworth: Alright, I'm counting on you two.

Kay: Right, and I'm counting on you and Ms. von Karma to sniff out clues in Allebahst!

...

Edgeworth: A number of pieces connect in a very complicated way in this case... It's almost enough to make one completely mentally exhausted.

Kay: Let's not over-complicate matters, OK, Mr. Edgeworth? We've been so focused, like a laser, on only what seems strange and out of place... it's no wonder nothing's clicked and we haven't unlocked anything yet. But, if we think things through calmly, the answer should come to us!

There's an independence to her proactiveness that kind of forces Edgeworth to meet her on equal grounds, and this too is an element that gets lost when the Dadworth dynamic comes in because it involves making Edgeworth responsible -- or feel responsible -- for her actions and general wellbeing when Kay has never expected nor wanted that. She does things on her own terms, and she walks the path she's chosen by herself:

Edgeworth: Preposterous! On what grounds do you suspect her of such a thing!?

Shih-na: The fact that she calls the Yatagarasu. That in itself is a more elegant proof.

Kay: Ms. Shih-na.

Shih-na: Yes?

Kay: I... have no intention of taking back any of what I've said.

Shih-na: ...?

Kay: I am the Great Thief Yatagarasu. And I refuse to allow some imposter to claim that name as their own! The path of justice that my father pointed me towards... I will walk it the best I can!

Her relationship with Edgeworth works as an inverse to that of Nick and Maya's in the way that, where Nick and Maya have deep respect for one another beneath layers upon layers of playful insults and messing about, Kay outwardly respects Edgeworth first (and expects that respect to be returned) and razes him second -- that, too, never to an extent she wouldn't with anyone else or that crosses a certain boundary. Her messing with Edgeworth is shown to be more an attempt to get him to lighten up or not take himself too seriously than an act of (platonic) intimacy as it is with Nick and Maya (which makes sense because Nick and Maya have spent years together, while she's known Edgeworth for all of two weeks) or genuine obliviousness/silliness (although it definitely sometimes is). This is pretty obvious simply from the fact that she always calls him 'Mr Edgeworth', though she's perfectly comfortable calling Gumshoe and Badd, people whom she is more familiar and comfortable with, 'Gummy' and 'Uncle Badd' respectively. Also Kay, in general, is quite polite? Edgeworth calls something she said rude at one point and she gets insulted, and, when you ask for her opinion, she doesn't go 'What?' or 'What is it?', she specifically says, 'Yes?' (this changes in AAI2, which I promise I'm not discussing here) Upon meeting Oldbag, she has this exchange with her, where Kay chooses a more formal mode of address than what is actually offered:

Oldbag: My name is Wendy Oldbag. But you can call me "Wendy", or "Granny", or whatever suits your fancy.

Kay: Nice to meet you, Ms. Oldbag! I'm Kay Faraday.

She's also had moments where she calls Edgeworth out for being 'tactless', and she's shown to feel very strongly about rudeness throughout the whole game. I'm not saying she isn't mischievous or playful, she very much is, but the point is that she's really quite respectful, and this extends to her relationship with him. Her characterisation in Turnabout Ablaze, where she's considerably more excitable/high-strung than in Kidnapped, seems largely due to them chasing down Calisto Yew. Edgeworth even comments on this:

Edgeworth: Kay, you need to look before you leap. You tend to lose your cool when it comes to anything related to that woman.

Generally, though, you can tell that she was obviously raised with an adherence to certain formalities. She's not looking for another parental figure (because she doesn't need one, which I'll go into after this), but, if she was, she'd make that clear.

Kay's a very straightforward person at heart; she doesn't hide any part of herself, even the part that should be hidden (i.e. the Yatagarasu). There are points where she suggests that Edgeworth reminds her of her father, but, in AAI, she specifically mentions that it's both Edgeworth and Gumshoe who remind her of her father and Detective Badd. It's not about her seeing Edgeworth as a father figure; it's about their and her own dedication to the truth. Even in AAI2, where her comments could be read as leaning more towards the former angle, she doesn't get cut up about him not picking up on that or really paying it much emphasis at all, because it doesn't matter. The fact that he reminds her of Byrne is just that: a fact.

Returning to the point about Kay not needing/wanting another parental figure, I think it's pretty self-explanatory, but to put it succinctly: Kay has the guidance she needs without him.

To put it less succinctly, Edgeworth's possibly the worst candidate to go for for emotional support and guidance in the first place, and by the time she meets him again, she's basically processed her father's passing and has a better handle on herself emotionally than Edgeworth does (not a brag; most characters have higher EQ than Edgeworth); what she wants isn't necessarily closure for Byrne's death in the emotional sense but in the I-want-answers-to-this-mystery-that-will-restore-my-family's-honour sense. You could make the argument that Kay becoming the second Yatagarasu and shaping her entire future around continuing her father's work prove that she isn't over his death, but I don't think that's true and more of a result of conflating her with Maya a bit.

With Maya, becoming the Master isn't something she chooses; it's given to her by Misty and Mia. With Kay, it's the opposite. Kay's decision to become the Yatagarasu and pursue the truth is wholly her own, and her approach to that goal reflects that. While Maya uses her cheery, upbeat attitude to conceal a lot of self-doubt and vulnerability (and Franziska does the same with her hostility), Kay does not. Her cheerfulness is precisely who she is; it's not a mask so much as it is a distraction. It keeps people from looking at her too closely and realising exactly how capable she is, and, while I don't think it's fully intentional (again, she believes in living her life in a straightforward and upfront manner), she does imply that it's sort of her (or the Yatagarasu's) MO:

Kay: Well! By the time everyone notices, it's already gone! That's the Yatagarasu way!

Interestingly enough, this unintentional tactic of using humour and cheeriness as a distraction from her abilities makes her a mirror to Calisto Yew, who also uses her seemingly always light-hearted nature as a disguise for what she's actually capable of (Calisto's joviality is her true self, too, or at least as 'true' as she can get). The difference between them is that Calisto delights in ironically mocking the world around her, whereas Kay finds joy in life itself, and she's stronger for it.

The only part where we see Kay attempt to mask her feelings is when she's a child, and even then she admits that she feels better after crying, which, I believe, led to her becoming more open with her emotions later in life (see how her older self has a teary sprite which makes pretty frequent appearances where her younger self does not). In any case, to me, this shows that she has people in her life already who are helping, and have helped, her confront and process her trauma. She's not looking to Edgeworth to help her make sense of her father's death and she definitely isn't looking for a replacement (again, literally dedicated to continuing her father's [and Badd's] legacy). Whenever Edgeworth even gets close to becoming parental with her, she dismisses it, unless she acknowledges that she is in the wrong:

Edgeworth: ...Kay, it's not good for you to stay up late, you know.

Kay: Yes, gramps!

...

Edgeworth: ...I appreciate your sense of justice, however... I would appreciate it if you wouldn't go running into the heart of any more raging fires.

Kay: Nngh... Yes, Mr. Edgeworth... I'll try...

Despite her buoyancy and bright attitude, Kay is quite firm that she be treated as an adult (she doesn't see her cheeriness as a mark of youth; it's joie de vivre, it's who she is, and that's that), and, throughout the game, she gets annoyed when people don't respect that (her arguments with Lang are largely over how he calls Little Thief a toy and her crow-girl). She holds her own and relies on herself while being unafraid of asking for help.

Anyway, this post has gone on for long enough and I think I've addressed the points I wanted to. I should mention that I realise that a lot of how many people portray/interpret their relationship is validated by AAI2 but that's honestly a discussion for a separate post HAHA I feel like, when it comes to AAI, the father/daughter interpretation can maybe be argued with regards to the way Edgeworth treats her? Honestly, though, I think he'd treat any young lady who suddenly becomes part of his team/responsibility in pretty much the same way. And, like, he drops the ball almost every time he's supposed to give "fatherly" advice because he's just not that great with it/children!! It's actually hilarious HSKSDHSK

Either way, yeah! I just think Kay is actually given a lot less credit than she's due when the Dadworth card gets played and I just! Want better for her!!

[fallowhearth]

Ongoing web serial reviews...

Mother of Learning by nobody103

I actually finished this one, which is itself a good review. The story is based around a timeloop, which can be a tricky proposition, but is handled well here. The author successfully keeps things interesting from loop to loop while staying congruent with the protagonist's characterisation.

This story is kind of... Stylistically boring. By which I mean kind of boring as a style choice, rather than unintentionally dull. The protagonist, Zorian, is the world's most boring teenage boy. He loves studying. There are no quips or flashy action scenes, and even the more outlandish set pieces display a kind of restraint. The writing style is generally quite plain without much ornamentation or personal style, but on the other hand does get the job done without being obtrusive. If you like straight forward but competent writing that does not call attention to itself, you will probably do well here. On the other hand, if you like a high octane story with lots of emotional highs and lows, you probably won't find this compelling.

Despite generally enjoying this, I have a few critiques to make. The author falls short in a way common to a lot of newer writers, in that they do not write the bits they don't enjoy writing. This is fine up to a point especially if you are aiming at fannish. It becomes a problem when the story is set up to telegraph certain beats, but these do not land because the author avoids writing those scenes. In Mother of Learning, that was really obvious in the scenes where characters' interpersonal conflicts came to a head. There were a lot of substantial conflicts set up with some real emotional stakes! But then I get the impression the author does not enjoy writing conflict, because the actual scenes were anticlimactic and didn't really resolve anything. Characters would back away from conflict in ways that belied their established characterisation. Characters were suddenly hit with the emotional intelligence stick out of nowhere for no reason, so the author did not have to play out actual conflicts. In aggregate it means that the character arcs in this serial were unsatisfying and largely unresolved.

There were also some pacing issues in the first half; it takes way too long for Zorian to discuss things with Zach. My sense is that this relates to my previous observation - I don't think the author wanted to write this story transition, or did not feel confident about doing so, and subsequently came up with a lot of excuses for why Zorian did not move to the obvious next plot beat. A valiant effort was made but this did not read like character choice but author avoidance. On a personal level, it also just annoys me when plots stall because characters who have every in-universe reason to talk to each other do not. You can write a compelling story with characters who know different things and do not share them, it's just a higher degree of difficulty and requires a real ability to inhabit characters' perspectives. Mother of Learning was just not that kind of story, so this part dragged.

It's also interesting that the author notes they started writing Mother of Learning as a world building exercise, because I found the world to be fairly generic. There were some mildly interesting gestures toward the existence of an economy, but the main character is not interested in history or politics or culture or sociology etc so these topics don't come up. What we see of the world is mostly surface level and often borrowed from other works. I never got the sense that the inciting events and the variously involved factions were emergent from the material and social conditions of the world. People just kind of do things to create the plot.

From the length of this post and the generally critical tone, you would be forgiven for assuming I didn't like it. But if I didn't enjoy it I would have stopped reading and never given it much thought. There was enough here to hold my interest, and enough substance to bother picking out the elements that did not work for me. The author was writing this for a decade; they don't seem to have any other stories up at present, but I'm really interested to see what they will do next. They seemed to be fairly young when it started. They've no doubt grown a lot as a writer and a person in that time.

[somewitchymusings]

End-of-year witchcraft in the Southern Hemisphere

I've been thinking a lot about how we do end-of-year witchy stuff during the summer. Many of the witchy creators I follow talk so much about winter being this great time to reflect on the year, with the Winter Solstice being this cosy, meditative time for reflection. They then speak to the welcoming of the sun during the solstice, allowing you to dream big for 2024 and set those goals and intentions which get brighter with the sun, etc, etc. Naturally, these kind of descriptions and energies aren't super helpful for me in the Southern Hemisphere. As such, I have been trying to cultivate my reflections and new-year dreamings to move with the unique weather.

I just celebrated the Summer Solstice/Litha. It was sunny, I said prayers to Helios, bought some sun flowers for my home, and did a big spring clean. I feel a big clean before harvest season/Lammas or the "height" of the hot summer makes most sense for my practice. It clears out space for the upcoming year and helps me ground before the busyness of Christmas.

Although that day happened to be sunny, as I write this post a great thunderstorm is rolling in. Living in Naarm/Melbourne (Australia), our weather is pretty inconsistent (yeah the: "melbourne has 6 seasons in 1 day!" comment is pretty true). The Wurrundjeri people and other Kulin nation peoples call this season Garrawang, Kangaroo-Apple Season. It is characterised by changing, thundering weather and long days with short nights. I honestly feel that this chaotic weather suits the "silly season," especially as a queer person when holidays are always that bit trickier. I'm no chaos magician, but I think it would make a lot of sense to harness that in a way that feels good to you. I think this energy is overlooked by trying to fit our experience of weather to the (Celtic, and frequently Americanised) Wheel of the Year - just because it is "summer" really doesn't mean it's all about sunshine magick. Especially in Australia where summers can be a brutal time for many crops.

For me, this shifting weather has been an opportunity to reflect on the previous year of 2023. Not just reminding myself of things I achieved, but things I didn't. Some goals can move into the new year, but many I came to realise were just unrealistic or didn't actually resonate with me and the things that make me happy. I have a tendensy to over-interlectualise my problems - trying to find reasons for not achieving or under-achieving. All of this is, of course, a whole bunch of capitalist brain-rot, but nevertheless the perfectionist in me struggles with the New Year. Instead, I try to reframe and witness that there is a lot that is entirely outside my control. I'll be writing out some of these things on paper, burning them, and blowing them out to the wind for the chaotic weather to take away - a symbolic reminder to go-with-the-flow and that the wheel keeps turning. I don't know about others, but The World and Temperance have been showing up in my readings pretty consistently.

I see this time as very 9 of Wands vibes, like a message of push through: there's more goodness to come! (i.e. the wands court cards, and the harvest season/Lammas/the height of summer). But also, there will there be much change, and change is good (i.e. New Years, this thundering weather, how Autumn proceeds summer). Feels appropriate that the 10 of wands - a card of carrying too many burdens - proceeds this. We then get that lovely playful page of wands, keen to explore and create. End-of-year reflection, to me in the Southern Hemisphere, is not so much a cosy, introspective time; but instead a fiery, chaotic, energetic time. I have to actively cultivate calm moments, because everything else is shifting. And as everything shifts, I'm finding ways to go-with-the-flow and shift with it - honoring what I can't control.

[bye-bye-firefly]

do you worry about your characterisations of fics being ooc? esp w fics like nameless. where do you draw the line?

I've been wanting to write fanfic but every time I try to write an au that requires modification of characterisatiin, I keep getting really worried that I'm too ooc

the way you have to get ahead of that is to study the SHIT out of the characters, which is what i do. and then you have to regularly go back to the source material, which i really REALLY need to do at this point

you also have to be aware of circumstances that might alter character behaviour. so kokichi being the way he is would not be the same the second he is taken out of a killing game. hes fighting for his life and he would not behave the same if he wasnt, which is why i tend to put him in situations where hes fighting for his life because it means that hes going to behave nearly the same but with my own twist

and this is also something that you have to realise; the way YOU see the character will completely alter your writings of them. this is why you get the character study out but even WITH the character study, these characters are going through you as a filter. you can decide how they would act and what they need to say or do to progress the story, but ultimately, the only reason shuichi behaves the way he does in nameless is because i wanted to drive up his fear of the truth up to a fucking MILLION. he would not behave that way in canon and i KNOW THIS but i want him to be so guilty, so scared of the truth, so scared of an eventual reality he cannot run from.

one thing that i also think is important to talk about is that these characters, once in your grasp, are no longer people, though you must puppet them to have them act like people. they are TOOLS. things get a lot easier when you think of your characters as tools within a story that are only there to make the plot push forward or to exercise a point. this still goes hand in hand with characterisation because i cant very well cut a piece of wood with a screwdriver. every interaction causes ripple effects causes new subplots that you will have to deal with causes BEAUTIFUL STORYTELLING!

sometimes you really do have to stop yourself after reading something back and go He would not fucking say that and erase it and sometimes erase a whole section. and it sucks. but that is sometimes what you must do to be happy with what youve written

AND FINALLY! because i feel like this might also become a problem and i love talking about writing and characters. when it comes to shit like the characters just running off the page and doing whatever the fuck they want, when this happens, you have to figure out what happened here what caused them to do something different. was it something someone said? was it something someone did? was it something NO ONE did? read through and find a path because there is always a path. sometimes you might even like the characters running away together anyway i know ive run into that, but that does mean that you have to be prepared to change the story if thats so. and for people like me who fly on the seat of their pants thats easy but for people who PLAN this shit completely out....Might be an issue .

so in short: STUDY! YOUR! CHARACTERS! and dont be afraid of creating subplots because people love subplots. your characters are TOOLS not PEOPLE. telling you where i draw the line is difficult because it really is a case-by-case basis and that is dependent on my view of the characters, which could be accurate in some spots and inaccurate in others

[unchataparis]

A Review of Destruction

Fun fact of the post! The English lyrics of the opening song are "In the daytime, I’m Marinette, just an ordinary girl with an ordinary life. But there’s something that no one knows about me yet, 'Cause I have a secret", but the French lyrics are "Je m’appelle Marinette, une fille comme les autres. Mais quand je dois lutter contra les forces du mal, je devien-", which translates to 'My name is Marinette, a girl like any other. But when I have to fight against the forces of evil, I become–" and the chorus comes in with the resonating MIRACULOUS LADYBUG call.

"Ladybug, once I get that last Miraculous, you’ll disappear forever", Gabriel says in his evil monologue. Chat Noir goes back to not existing.

Another rational decision to ask Orikko immediately to grant Gabriel the power of time travel. Orikko’s powers are so bizarre, both Orikko and Ziggy’s powers are bizarre. They suit Marc and Nathaniel, since they are both artistic creators given the power of limitless creation, but these powers encroach a little too much on Ladybug’s territory. The two of them combined, technically could create their own Lucky Charm.

They’re doing a great job of irritating Gabriel.

How does a Holder have such oppressive powers against their Kwami? Who made this rule? Does the Holder have control over the Kwami because they possess the Miraculous Jewel? How does a human-made jewel have sun a reign over a formless concept?

That’s clever! Going around the restriction by forcing the Kwami to tell Gabriel where Ladybug lives. Reminds me of a similar get-a-round that happened in Vampire Academy.

Sabine has real snazzy pyjamas.

This episode on nonsense filler Latin.

So, Kwami can lie to their Holders.

Props to Alya for reacting so quickly.

Alya’s interruption is a good idea. Normally, Monarch would’ve been quicker to doubt and less likely to accept the fact that Marinette knows nothing but the keychain. But with his position outed and Ladybug likely on her way to apprehend him from terrorising random innocent citizens, he doesn’t raise as much questions and just want to get away.

Miles Morales.

So both Phillippe and Véronique, Véronique more, were in on the plan to help Ladybug.

This was a pretty solid strategy. Restrained, caged in, can’t risk making any hasty movements unless Monarque want the power of unlimited destruction coursing through his veins.

Ladybug bothering to explain how she knew Monarque was on her trail significantly reduces risk for Marinette.

The American dub focuses heavily on the characterisation that Monarque is a moth. The French dub refers to him as "papillon" only.

The only mistake Ladybug and Chat Noir made was underestimating the depths of Monarch’s desperation.

That really was a solid plan. Usually with Miraculous tactics, I can point out obvious fallacies or much sounder routes which would be ignored in cartoon settings in favour for pizzazz. But, here, I couldn't find a single foul in the plan to criticise. And Monarque could only get out by dealing himself the final damage.

I would not have felt any guilt in this scenario at all. As far as I'm concerned, Monarque dealt himself the blow.

Someone bothered to throw in "Lady Ice", but not the rest of the sentence? What’s going on? This is something so easy to do. Are the animators prevented from doing anything that’s not directly related to the plot?

The ribbon animation in this scene was great! They were bouncing and fluttering with Ladybug’s movements, I can’t remember if that has ever happened before.

All these events happened in one day? So, the true reason why Gabriel agreed so easily to Adrien wanting to quite modelling isn’t because he does want Adrien to have a shot at autonomous freedom or because he could just digitalise his son, but because he’s dying and wants to right all wrongs?

This episode really does set up the rest of the season, just like its predecessor. It introduces Gabriel's new facets of power. I don’t think there any special reason why Gabriel re-made the Miraculous into the shape of rings – there’s no link meant to Chat Noir, to clarify – it’s just the easiest way for a man like him to carry around 16 Miraculous without being too obvious about it. The next time Marinette spots him, she could point out, "why are all of your new jewellery the same exact Miraculous I lost?", but a really easy in-universe explanation could be that Gabriel manufactures faux-Miraculous jewels, like Lila’s fox pedant. Gabriel is supposed to be an avid Ladybug supporter. 

The audience comes to understand how Tomoe and Gabriel’s collaboration came to be –

And Gabriel has a new Miraculous Box and transformation. The over-wrapping lace is certainly – a unique touch. I like his previous Monarch look better, but this ingrain the more sickly aspect of his villainousness. His appearance oozes venom and tainted desire. It’s curious how Gabriel has blue pupils now. His 'Miraculous Box' is very personable, a ferris wheel cage, trapping hope like he traps the joy of his son. If Gabriel doesn’t have rights to it, he’ll just steal and build his own to contain it, basically. Very capitalistic mindset. Suits a fashion mogul.

[h-worksrambles]

I wanna talk about Cloud and Sephiroth in Kingdom Hearts

Oh boy. Final Fantasy characters in Kingdom Hearts. Now this is a controversial topic. While originally pitched as a Disney and Final Fantasy crossover, Kingdom Hearts is relatively sparing in its utilisation of the cast of FF. They’ve never had a dedicated world and they tend to serve as AU cameos to help populate the games’ original locales, such as Tidus, Selphie and Wakka being kids on the Destiny Island, or Squall, Aerith, Yuffie and Cid being in Traverse Town (having come from Radiant Garden). And when they do show up, their characterisation tends to be a point of contention.   Some people want more of these guys in the series and are annoyed that their relevance has dwindled still further with time. Others dislike their KH iterations, finding them too out of character. And some of the most controversial have been the cast of Final Fantasy VII. Being the most popular entry in the series, VII has several representatives in Kingdom Hearts, and just as with the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII (which Nomura also had a pretty big hand in), their portrayals are pretty divisive. So I thought it might be interesting to try doing a little fix it fic of how the FF7 cast could have been handled in terms of their role and backstories in this continuity.   My thought process has been to try and retain the core essentials of their character, and to find a reasonably close KH equivalent to their original lore without making it too complicated. They only have so much time after all and there’s a LOT going on in KH as there is. Also, I want to think about organic and fitting interactions they could have with the series’ original characters.   With that said, I’ll be looking specifically at the archetypal JRPG protag and villain themselves: Cloud Strife + Sephiroth

  Cloud first shows up in Kingdom Hearts 1 hired by Hades to take down Sora and Hercules, but ultimately sees the error of his ways and befriends Sora. In KH, he’s a swordsman wandering from world to world hunting for his nemesis, Sephiroth. We only get snippets of their history, but from what we can gleam, this version of Cloud succumbed to darkness in the past. He was saved from turning fully in some way by Tifa Lockhart, but this ended up creating Sephiroth, a being of pure darkness who torments Cloud, trying to push him back into corruption as the devil figure of his conscience. He can only be eliminated by Cloud himself.

  The biggest issue with Cloud’s characterisation is really the same one that dogs a lot of the Compilation. Specifically, that a lot of Cloud’s quirks and insecurities are airbrushed away to make him stoic and ‘cool’. My stance on this is that, (and this goes for Dissidia to an extent too), KH and the Compilation treat Advent Children Cloud as the default. Thing is, Cloud is very different from his usual self in that movie, since he’s riddled with trauma and depression from the events of the OG game. Now Advent Children doesn’t handle this character arc super well, but there is at least a reason why Cloud is the way he is there. And yet, that version of Cloud is treated in wider media as how Cloud should act all the time. It’s almost like if you took the extreme version of Batman from something like the Dark Knight Returns, and made that your default Batman in a movie with no additional context. But no director would ever do THAT right?

Oh wait…

  Normally, Cloud is a huge, socially awkward dork acting cool and hyper-masculine to hide his own insecurities. And there’s a lot of potential pairing him up with someone as earnest as Sora, who is so goofy and unapolgeticaly himself. If you wanna see what that dynamic would look like, just look at Cloud and Wedge in VII Remake. So as for Cloud’s character, sure he can be cool at first, but that facade can break after the fight with Hades and Cerberus. Let him be awkward, let him be snarky, let him and Sora have a proper dynamic. Sora indulges Cloud’s cool guy persona because he knows that, deep down, Cloud is a huge softy. Look, I’ll be real the cheat answer is just make him like he is in Remake.  However, I am keeping his Vincent Valentine esque redesign because it is AWESOME.

  He can still hunt for Sephiroth, he can still work briefly with Hades. But his overall character writing will hopefully be much more in line with the original game, which should help to give him better chemistry with Sora and even Hercules. Multiple times KH has made FF7 characters strive to become heroes at Olympus the same way they wanted to join SOLDIER in the OG (we see this with Zack in Birth By Sleep especially). You could do a lot by making Hercules an ideal of the kind of hero Cloud wants to be, in contrast to his former fallen idol, who himself was once a legendary hero...

  And with that, let’s get to Sephiroth. Admittedly his actual demeanor is not too far off the mark and his boss fights are absolutely legendary. I’ve touched on what little we know of KH Sephiroth’s backstory already and I really don’t care for it. I think it represents a fundamental misunderstanding of Cloud and Sephiroth’s dynamic for one simple reason.

  Sephiroth should not give a damn about Cloud.

  In FF7, Sephiroth barely interacts with the party, and when he does, it’s usually Jenova taking his form. This is because Sephiroth is too concerned with his lofty goals of destroying the Planet with Meteor, and thus taking control of the Lifestream, to pay attention to the ragtag group following him. Because power wise, they’re practically ants to him. Why shoud he care if they’re following him? There’s a sequence in the beginning of the game where you have to take a huge detour to avoid a monster callled the Midgar Zolom. It’s far to powerful to defeat at your current level, you can only avoid it. About 15 in game minutes later, you see another one of these things impaled on a tree by Sephiroth.

  It’s such a brilliant way to communicate that Sephiroth is on a whole other power level compared to Cloud and co. He is not just the man Cloud hates, but also the embodiment of everything he once wanted to be. He is an almost godlike mountain for Cloud to climb, symbolic of Cloud’s own self doubts. The only time he gives Cloud the time of day is when he can use him as a puppet for personal gain. Unravelling his false memories, realising he was strong enough to beat Sephiroth once, and can do it again, is a huge part of Cloud’s arc, piecing together his fractured identity, accepting himself for who he is and overcoming his insecurities. There’s a reason the final fight of the game is a scripted one hit kill against Sephiroth. Cloud has finally learned to believe in himself, and can overcome the man who once personified his fear and self-hatred, the man who underestimated Cloud to his cost. Cloud proves to be both the better warrior and the better man.

  But in Kingdom Hearts, as in Dissidia and even Remake, Sephiroth is constantly popping up to taunt, torment and manipulate Cloud. He doesn’t seem to have a life outside of bullying the guy. Cloud should be the one pursuing Sephiroth, not the other way around. Which is why I don’t think the whole ‘Sephiroth is Cloud’s darkness’ thing really works. Sephiroth is more than an aspect of Cloud. As I said, he should feel like a demigod on a whole other level. Sephiroth’s goals should be far beyond Cloud himself. He should think of Cloud as no more than a flea, unworthy of his time.

  The games seem to want to push Sephiroth as a symbol of Cloud’s old shame and past. Something he wants to escape but can’t, with Tifa trying to help him move on from it. Again, kind of like what Advent Children was trying to do. But without any details on any of these characters’ shared history, it just reduces their conversations to empty, pretentious refrains of “darkness, darkness, light, light, darkness” without any substantial character work behind it. It’s honestly just a worse written version of Riku and Ansem’s dynamic. Their portrayal is not just a disservice to their FF7 incarnations, it’s emblematic of all the worst excesses of Kingdom Hearts’ writing and none of the strengths.

  So, here’s my take for a rewrite of Cloud and Sephiroth’s backstory. Cloud and Sephiroth were originally from the same world. However, eventually Sephiroth learned of legends of chosen warriors who travelled from world to world as protectors. It’s not said outright, but we’ll imply that what Sephiroth read about, was the existence of Keyblade wielders. Believing himself to be one of these chosen ones, Sephiroth opened the door to the heart of his world, causing it to be swallowed up by the Heartless. Cloud, only a child then, was one of several to escape, being flung to Radiant Garden (as would Aerith and Tifa but I may save them for another time). This allows for something that better parallels their FF7 backstory, with the destruction of their world mirroring the Nibelheim Incident, and Sephiroth’s goal of becoming a Keyblade wielder mirroring his delusions of grandeur as Jenova’s ‘chosen one’. But all in a way that isn’t too dark or complicated for KH. Hence, Cloud sets out across the worlds to take revenge on Sephiroth, and is willing to learn how to use darkness if that’ll get him what he wants. 

  This also makes for an easy way to get Sephiroth to fight Sora, one KH2 already hints at. Sephiroth takes an interest to Sora because he covets the Keyblade which is why he challenges Sora to fights. He doesn’t have to be a major villain. He can still be an optional superboss. But now his dynamic with Cloud and narrative role is much more true to the original. It also gives Cloud another interesting parallel with Sora. Sora and Cloud were both torn away from their original homes and want to recover what they’ve lost. But Cloud does so through revenge and is willing to rely on darkness to do it. This can allow KH1!Sora to grapple with whether using the darkness would be an easy shortcut to getting his friends back (which is exactly what Riku struggles with in KH1). I believe Disney worlds are at their best when they can meaningfully impact the heroes’ development. And I think that should apply to the FF characters too. Both should be more than filler episodes. This can also continue when we introduce Tifa in KH2. Now Cloud has reunited with another survivor of his world, he can begin to question whether his relationships with the people around him matter more than vengeance against Sephiroth. And that’s a lesson Sora, who values his friends above all else, can help to drill into him. Wait...have I basically made Cloud into Guts? Uhhhh...

  If we’d actually gotten that long awaited Sephiroth superboss in KH3, we might even have been able to bring this to a conclusion. And there’s lots of different ways we could take it. Maybe Sora and Cloud could have taken on an ascended Safer Sephiroth, as Sephiroth’s quest for power ends not with a Keyblade, but a twisted angelic monstrous form. And so Cloud overcomes his self-doubts by defeating Sephiroth with the help of his friends. Or maybe Cloud chooses not to kill Sephiroth. He decides he isn’t worth it and chooses to put his friends over revenge, leaving Sephiroth to blindly wander the worlds, never getting the Keyblade he seeks because, ironically, he drowned himself in darkness in a way the Keyblade could never accept. Maybe Cloud could meet Riku in Radiant Garden after he comes back from the Dark Realm. Riku knows what it’s like to rely on darkness as a shortcut to power, and can relate to Cloud’s enmity with Sephiroth by comparing it to being haunted by Ansem. We could have fleshed out his dynamics with Tifa and Aerith or even Zack (assuming he’s not dead in this canon that is, BBS is a little unclear there). There’s lots of different ways you could go with it.

  I love Kingdom Hearts. I love Final Fantasy VII. But I don’t think Cloud and Sephiroth’s showings in KH, cool boss fights notwithstanding, are a proper showcase of what makes these characters so great. I understand that this is a different canon, and these are alternate universe versions of these two. But I think they could be implemented in a way that is more true to why they were so compelling in the original, while still being thematically fitting for Kingdom Hearts. I’m not a writer, and I don’t pretend to be better than professionals just because I’m playing script doctor. But I hope I succeeded in doing these characters justice, even a little.

  I hope you guys liked this. If you did, let me know and maybe I’ll evaluate/rewrite other Final Fantasy characters in Kingdom Hearts. Maybe I’ll even talk about ones who aren’t here already that I would like to see. Until next time, take care!

[bretwalda-lamnguin]

I’m willing to admit that a lot of my frustration with the LOTR films is purely personal, I dislike certain aspects of the films compared to the books. But I do think there is a genuine point to be made about the LOTR films as poor adaptations in a more objective way. To me a good adaptation should be either faithful (follows the plot, theme and characterisation of the source material) or transformative (alters plot, theme or characterisation but in an internally consistent way, using the source material as building blocks to create something new and interesting in its own right). An adaptation may be both at various points, adapting some plotlines faithfully while being transformative with others, but getting caught between the two is dangerous. An adaptation that finds itself caught between being faithful and transformative regularly can lead to characters that seem to have incoherent motivations and only make decisions as the plot requires, plotlines with poor or no pay off and a muddled sense of theme, and I feel all three of these apply to the LOTR films. To me, rather than either following the books or striking out in his own direction Jackson wanted to have his cake and eat it, putting his own stamp on characters and plotlines, but without following these to a logical conclusion, using the source material as a crutch rather than a guide or building blocks.

A key example of this is the interactions of Faramir with Frodo and Sam in Ithilien. In the book Faramir is a strong-willed character guided primarily by his own morality, who cares little for what his father Denethor thinks, for him to reject the ring after being tempted by it makes sense and is coherent as a plotline. Film!Faramir is much weaker, lacks his book counterpart’s morality and is desperate for his father’s affection. I dislike this change, but it isn’t inherently bad. What is bad is not following it through to it’s logical conclusion, Film!Faramir does decide to take the ring and takes the Hobbits with him to Osgiliath (all well and good), and then decides after seeing Frodo try to hand the ring to a ringwraith to then reject the ring and send the Hobbits away (absurd!) coupled with a nonsensical line from Mablung about Faramir’s life being forfeit (I can only assume a garbled version of book!Faramir saying that if he makes a choice that goes poorly for Gondor his life will be forfeit, but it makes no sense here). This plotline could work if they followed through on Faramir trying to take the ring, and the hobbits escaping in the chaos of battle at Osgiliath. Faramir would remain a coherent character, and the plotline would even follow more cleanly into ROTK, where it is obvious that Denethor hates Faramir for his perceived incompetence, (rather than for opposing him in terms of worldview and putting morality before realpolitik as with their book counterparts). Faramir attempting to contest Osgiliath might then make more sense as an attempt to get into his father’s good graces, with Faramir being wounded in a desperate (but not suicidal) attempt to contest the crossing of Anduin for example. The only reason for including Faramir rejecting the ring is because it happens in the book, the film tries to be both transformational and faithful and suffers for it.  

The same issue crops up elsewhere, Arwen is made into a more prominent character (an actual good choice both because of her importance and to counter the lack of women in the books) but this is nullified in the last two films with Arwen being almost ‘killed off’ with nonsense about her dying because of the ring (why not have her take the place of her brothers?). Elves turn up at Helm’s Deep but are all killed so we don’t have to worry about consequences going forward. Theoden hating Gondor for some reason and refusing to help until all of a sudden he does when the plot requires it. Aragorn not wanting to be king of Gondor, but still accepting the crown after the threat to Gondor has passed. He legitimately could have seen his part as over and wandered into the wilderness never to be seen again, which seems more in character of reluctant hero film!Aragorn. Including the pyre of Denethor, a scene that only works in the book because of the tragedy of Denethor’s character in an adaptation where Denethor is not a tragic character. Even more minor changes which only serve to pad runtime (in already absurdly long films) while having no consequence or sense to them such as Frodo sending Sam away near Minas Morgul weaken the films as a whole.

A more minor aspect of this is in dialogue, Jackson seemingly doesn’t rate himself as a writer of dialogue, and so will often use dialogue from the books. This is not a problem in scenes which are mostly faithful to their book counterpart, but quickly becomes one where changes have been made. Sometimes this comes across as simply nonsense, i.e. Theoden’s orders before the ride of the Rohirrim where he makes reference to the Rammas Echor (not present in the films) and gives his marshals orders to head in different directions before these are all completely ignored and the Rohirrim charge as a block. At other times the dialogue is altered, but in a way which shows Jackson did not understand the original and really should have dropped it entirely. Gollum swearing his oath to Frodo fits this category, with the distinction between swearing on or by the ring removed, and then Gollum not swearing any oath at all. This plot point should have been dropped anyway as the pay off, Frodo cursing Gollum on the slopes of Mt. Doom is not present in the film, leaving it an unfired Chekov’s gun.

While none of these problems is fatal on their own, they all take up (precious) time and result in the films being much weaker (and more importantly, less interesting) than if Jackson had either stuck to the original, or to his own convictions. My problem here is not that the LOTR films are unfaithful to the book, it is that they are faithful in ways they shouldn’t be.

[the-land-of-eternal-winter-novel]

🌍💣👀🎨

(All answers are given in a way that better corresponds to draft 2, just a heads up for those of you who already read draft 1)

Worldbuilding:

The distinctive thing about my worldbuilding is that it makes it impossible for me to find a genre label

The distinctive thing about the worldbuilding in this story is that it's very very very distantly post-apocalyptic, namely it takes place 1000 years after a cataclysm, and of course, in many ways, the people living in this age are not affected anymore, but in other ways, they are obsessed with their lost past (especially given that they celebrate said 1000 year anniversary). What I'm going for with this is mostly a reversal of the usual past=regressive and present=progressive paradigm. (But of course I know that in and of itself is a trope, much like the legend of Atlantis. It just happens to be a trope I like better).

Another thing I was going for was creating a sort of winterland that was not Scandinavian coded (this is actually the very first idea I had back in May 2019 when I wrote draft 0). Obviously a Scandinavian coded wonderland does co-exist, being Ingrid (the main character's wife) country of origin, but the main country is mostly based on 18/19th cent Russia. Now, this fact, namely a vaguely 19th century Russia coded winterland + the fact of it being 1000 years post apocalypse, with the older civilisation bring more technologically advanced, I'd be inclined to label this a sort of steampunk. I'll see where I go with the tech related worldbuilding.

The climactic moment:

Well you asked for this, so spoiler warning. But I will try not to give the biggest reveals away.

The idea hinted at from the beginning is that Anatoliy killing the neighbour king Vaidas was not at all an isolated act of revenge, but, much to his horror, Anatoliy had played right into the hands of a much bigger conspiracy, which for whatever reason would've benefitted from Vaidas' death. Anatoliy, while having willfully killed Vaidas, was a completely unwilling pawn in this larger scheme. Over time, more and more conspirators get revealed, each (usually) a bigger villain than the previous.

Anatoliy's personal family conflict + his crime + the conspiracy + the three ongoing revolutionary movements somehow (using this word not out of uncertainty but because that's a huge spoiler) collide and some actually end up having to put aside differences to fight a greater evil. The climax thus is the reveal of the one who started the conspiracy in the first place, and the others having to fight against this newfound evil.

All I will say, thematically, is that the conflict in worldview shifts from revenge vs forgiveness to thinking you can change the world vs accepting it as it is and just living right.

Random lore dump:

Idk for sure what piece of non spoiler lore I haven't shared yet hmm. As I mentioned on my other sideblog @the-tzarina-alexandra-paracosm , the title The Land of Eternal Winter is a reference to one of the novels I wrote as a teen, namely a chapter with a similar name, in which one of the characters ends up at Stalingrad and has this whole flashback sequence/ internal monologue about his childhood in pre-communist Russia. I really wanted to steal the name from that chapter, seeing it more appropriate in the setting of this current novel.

I chose the word eternal too because it just sounds better and more spiritual, but that doesn't mean the winter is 1. Actually never-ending. Like they do get a summer but it's pretty mild. Their climate is just kind of subpolar/ tundra + taiga type of terrain. 2. A symbol of a spiritual realm such as Heaven or hell. It absolutely is not Heaven because look at how sinful these people are for real. And it absolutely is not hell either because first of all let's be real you know me, I love winter and see it as a good thing, so I would never characterise hell as a beautiful snowy place. If I tried to imply it was hell I would straight up name it the land of eternal fire or whatever. I would say winter, if you take the spiritual connotation, is earth. As in the condition of man, but most of all, it is neither Heaven nor hell, it is earth and earth cannot be eternal and guess what happens when humans think their earthly existence is eternal? Yep. And of course you are free to extrapolate all sorts of meanings from this title given the many symbols of winter etc. I just know that winter sometimes symbolises death and I only wanted to steer clear from the possible "eternal winter = eternal death?? = hell??" interpretation. In-universe the country has this nickname because their climate ofc, but their culture too is a cold one (as opposed to a warm friendly culture). They do have quite the negative reputation.

Colour or texture:

Cool tones, especially blue, but of course yhe works itself is colourful enough. I just think of images such as the one below when I think of colour + texture associations of this story

[dragonbabezee]

Fictional Crush Series No. 10

Now, hear me out.

You probably don’t know this about me, but I was born into the fug of Star Wars Mania, raised, verily, on the tales of the Galaxy far, far away. I was taken to see The Empire Strikes back at a cinema before I was old enough to wipe my own arse. “Oh, who’s the crush she’s going to talk about?” I hear you thinking. “Is it Luke? Is it Han?” No, friends, it is not. It is in fact...

Anakin Skywalker.

As much as I loved the characters in the original trilogy, for whatever reason I never developed crush levels of fascination with them. Even back then, though, the most fascinating and complicated character in George Lucas’s tale was Darth Vader’s. When he announced that he would be creating a prequel series, that would be a Vader/Anakin origin story, I was primed to go wild. However, the first film of the prequels was of course, The Phantom Menace, that delivered equally on the Wow Factor and the WTF factor. Anakin was a 9 year old boy, and annoying as heck. 

I have a complicated relationship to the prequel trilogy. All three of them deliver great visuals, good looking characters and character designs, fascinating underling themes, broad-stroke compelling plot and character arcs, but all three also deliver overly complicated plots, poorly written pivotal scenes, bad dialogue, bad acting and some unintentionally funny moments. That’s neither here nor there, but I just had to say it. 

I did not particularly crush on Anakin when Attack of the Clones hit the screens, either. I have too many issues with the way he was written in that movie. He was pushy, creepy and entitled during his wooing of Padme. It was amazing that she fell for him, and really, I thought that the movie should have made more of Padme’s possible loneliness and emotional immaturity for someone as worldly and responsible as she to have fallen for him. The girl must have issues if “I killed them all, even the women and children,” doesn’t raise a major red flag.

I guess, in the end they were just really horny for each other, and I can respect that.

Plus there was that terrible rat’s tail hair-do! Unforgivable!

I don’t care. I’d been imagining how their relationship would come about for three years, I could continue reimagining.

However, then came 2005 and The Revenge of the Sith. It was time for my fall for the Dark Side. It is undoubtedly the best of the prequels, and also undoubtedly the best of the Anakin. Here we see him run a gamut of complicated emotional situations making decisions that many of us could imagine making, all inevitably leading him to his darkest place - the liberation and the tyranny of life on the Dark Side. Which is to say, I watched this shaggy, audacious Jedi, who had finally grown into his overconfidence go from this:

to this

to this

to this

My fav and beau was manipulated, emotionally tortured and ultimately mutilated into sacrificing the last of his goodness to protect Padme. Does that make me a horrible person?

And this thing is, Anakin is only a shade off the usual characterisation of a hero, but that’s not where he ends up. I could talk all day about how the film fails to properly set up events like the slaughter of the younglings to make it actually believable as a step on the journey, but with my careful mental rewrites I can get behind this story of a character so denied the love and affection he needs a human, that he clings harder to the love he does have than any sane person would. It’s the story of repressed love conquering all, including good, compassion, morality, decency and even the object of the love. A love so fierce it burns everything it touches to ash.

I guess I like a tragic figure. And I guess I like to watch them lose their legs in a lightsaber duel and go up in literal flames. 

But also I liked to watch this gorgeous young man splashed across the silverscreen giving us an amazing performance with his swoon-worthy face. 

Say what you like about the dialogue, but his acting was top notch - Hayden Christiansen, I salute you! 

[jolyneswife-anime-reviews]

My hero academia anime review

Spoilers for my hero academia and tw for family issues

Disclaimer: I have only watched everything up to about half of season 4.

“Even if it means twisting myself, I’ll win the way I choose,” - Katsuki Bakugo

Genre: action, high school, superhero

Where I watched it: Funimation

Characterisation: 8.5/10 (Characters have a very broad range of personalities and even minor side characters get some screen time. Most characters are gradually developed throughout the series, with the main characters being complex and diverse, but also improving as they learn more and make mistakes. An example is Todoroki’s struggle to view his fire as his own power after the abuse his father out his family through- gradually, he starts to realize that, despite it being the same power, it’s his power and he is not his father. There are a LOT of characters too, so there’s something for everyone. The series also strays from clichés a bit, making the characters more memorable, unique and the plot more enjoyable. An example of this is Uraraka, who appears light hearted, cutesy and carefree, but her real reason for becoming a hero is to make a lot of money so her parents can rest after working so hard for her whole life.)

Setting: 8/10 (As a setting, UA high school works very well- it has all the facilities that would be necessary for training future pro heroes for all kinds of situations, and the high school element adds a more realistic, slice of life feel. The setting is sometimes changed, with things like work studies at hero agencies or training camps, and this helps us to keep understanding this world and enjoy seeing the characters grow and develop. It also makes for a stimulating plot. Later on in the anime, the decision is also made to build dorms to keep the students safe from increasing villain attacks. This adds a nice, homely feel to the school, with each student personalising their room to reflect them, as well as creating opportunities for more relaxed and wholesome skits.)

Art style: 7/10 (The art style is pleasant- most characters are well drawn and their costumes as heroes are too. However, it’s nothing out of the ordinary, and settings tend to look way too computerised for my taste)

Plot: 8/10 (the plot is pretty fast paced and dynamic- it certainly doesn’t lack variety, as well as mysteries and questions that need answering. All this makes it quite engaging to watch, but sometimes, particularly with some battle arcs, some events dragged on for way too long, so I started to lose interest.)

Originality:9.5/10 (I absolutely adore the way this anime combined elements of a regular, slice of life, high school anime (friendships, rivalries, school events etc.) with a very comic like vision of heroes and superpowers. It managed to make the two go hand in hand in a very innovative way.)

Addictiveness: 7/10 (While the solid plot and the mystery elements, as well as the amazing world building do engage the viewer, I definitely wouldn’t say this anime was gripping- it didn’t leave me needing to know more, and, due to the storyline dragging in some arcs, I actually ended up losing interest for a short while)

Comfort: 7/10 (There are some darker areas to the anime- atrocious deeds are committed against vulnerable people, and there’s a lot of raw emotion too, due to the mental demand of being a hero. However, the friendship element of MHA, as well as the numerous funny or wholesome skits and the (for the most part) positive and good natured cast who always persevere make the anime quite comforting to watch.)

Philosophy: 8/10 (Due to the high level of character development, there are definitely some noteworthy points to take away from the anime. The majority of these are about self improvement, and come from the characters themselves growing. One of these is that you should never be so cocky that you don’t see your own weaknesses and don’t make progress, which is something Bakugo realised after failing his provisional license exam, despite being among the top students in the class. The main one however, is that no matter how impossible things seem, if someone is passionate, dedicated and works hard, they can make it happen. This is shown throughout Izuku’s own journey of training to become a hero.)

Consistency:7.5/10 (Despite the quality not really dropping from season to season, there are some areas where the plot drags and gets a bit repetitive, or where it becomes easy to lose interest.)

The plot

Izuku Midoriya dreams of becoming a pro hero, and has felt that way ever since he was a little kid. This was despite the fact that, in a superhuman society where 80% of people are born with some sort of power, or “quirk,”, he was born completely ordinary. When he saw All might, the number one hero, on TV as a kid, he grew to idolise him and wanted to become just like that. So, despite having no power, Izuku makes the decision to apply for UA, the school producing all the top pro heroes in Japan. His ambition is shut down by his childhood bully, Katsuki Bakugo, who insults him and tells him not to waste time applying- he himself is an amazing student with a powerful quirk. Before the UA entrance exam, Izuku meets all might, and asks him if he can ever become a hero. All might tells him he doesn’t think it’s possible, but a few days later, Izuku sees Bakugo being attacked by a villain and rushes to save him on impulse. After seeing all this, all might changes his mind, as it’s clear to him that Izuku has all the natural qualities of a pro hero. Because of this, he tells Izuku the secret about his own power, which greatly boosts strength and speed. It can be handed down from person to person- the previous user simply needs to choose someone, and all might has chosen Izuku. Once he knows this, Izuku works harder than ever, and he keeps up with a rigorous training regime all might sets up for him in order to be physically strong enough to wield the power. All might transfers his power to Izuku just before the entrance exams, telling him he will not be able to use it all straight away. The exam consists of taking down villain robots, with one robot being worth no points at all. Keeping in mind what all might told him, Izuku is cautious and reluctant to use his new power, but this quickly changes when he sees the 0 points robot heading towards a girl trapped under some rubble. The girl saved him from tripping up using her own zero gravity power before the exam, and had introduced herself as Ochaco Uraraka. Without thinking, Izuku jumps and punches the robot with all his strength, completely demolishing his arm in the process. He is then rushesd to the infirmary. This is the first of many challenges Izuku will face to become a pro hero, but his determination, as well as his skills, will only grow along the way, as he will work harder, and meet more incredible people; some mentors, some friends and some rivals. 

Masterlist

[shopcat]

How do you go about writing such good meta?! when i think about my favorite characters my thoughts are just ILOVETHEM or THEYRECOOL

OH well that's easy that's what my brain does too LOL ^_^. We are the same you and i... though i don't think anything i say ever is actually good at all it's just like stream of consciousness of sorts and i agree with everything i say of course and think i'm constantly cooking etc BUT i don't think it's anything like new or revalatory and probably not interesting unless you're as crazy as i am about it it's just fun and i like it. strokes my chin.

i think i've said before somewhere on this blog that i actually really struggle with ummm articulation and putting my thoughts to words as well as identifying symbolism and themes and character motivation a lot just like critical analysis in general and i DO NOT understand like, the social or psychological minitiae of it all on top of it so i guess like it just doesn't come easy to me at all. but i guess at a certain point the static in my head when i think about the characters and stories i enjoy solidify into SOMETHING or other, even if it's just from seeing someone get it Wrong so at least i can then go "okay well if that's wrong and i don't agree then i must know what's RIGHT even if it's like just a feeling or w/e".

i do generally just go wowwws i love this guy so much for long enough that i can then be like okay well it's for a REASON, and what are those reasons, and what's the significance of those reasons, and then it snowballs from there, and why did they act that way, and how did it affect them, and why are Did He do this...? Does he know...? and so on and so forth. also reading what other people who are likeminded think is 90% of what i do and helps me form my own thoughtspace around it and i can chip away at it and choose what i agree with and what i don't i supposssssse. at the end of the day what you think about a character at all is dependant from ur own experiences too and everyone's got their own perspective due to that. i don't think there necessarily IS a like Truly Canonical Characterisation we as the audience can conform to bc we just did not create it and only those who did can ever know so i think clawing at each other like rabid animals over smaller scale characterisation and stuff is ultimately going to get us no where bc we're all in the dark and working off of what we individually know anyways. sorry i got possessed.

[rolling-restart]

Hey, I don’t know if I’ll be able to form coherent enough English sentences but I had to come over from ao3 to tell you how much I love desecration. The pace of the story, the depth of the characters also while reading between the lines. It just caught me and I couldn’t stop reading until I’ve read all the chapters you’ve published until now.

This kind of hits home in a way. I have this friend who’s married a thirty year old man when she was twenty and while it’s not been just like in your story, there are parallels in the dynamic. I won’t go into this but it helps me empathising on how much I love the characterisation. Or better, how much I admire the characterisations.

I’ve read your more thoroughly written takes on Toto, George and also Nico in this story and it’s really amazing to see how much thought you put into building this world.

You read it and you can see how much work went into building the characters and their habits and fears and how they deal with stuff. It’s just exactly what a story like this needs and you’re doing such a good job at it!

The way you built this so far with helpless overwhelmed Daniel and don’t even get me started on George’s thoughts. So much inner conflict and this want to be perfect. I don’t know if I can put it into words but this has definitely been a story that I think about a lot so far!

I have some other thoughts about it and I’ll definitely come back here to spam you some more but for now, that’s all. Thanks for writing this! It’s awesome!

Okay firstly, your English is perfectly comprehensible, don’t even worry about that. English is not my first language either (it’s actually the third)!

I am so happy you loved it so much! My readers’ comments and appreciation is actually what keeps this story going for me and I am very, very grateful for you people!

Well, the reason why we care about George this much is the fact that it hits close to home, one way or another. Personally, I project a lot when writing George and I know it is relatable. One of the biggest challenges is probably keeping the story sober in a way that we can always see what’s wrong about everything. This helps the reader not romanticise anything, which is a main objective for me.

I spent a long time actually getting to know the characters, their motivations and weaknesses. It is very easy to create a plastic character with no depth if you are not careful and character studies helped me stay away from it. Also the community here contributed so much to the character studies that it is unreal. In a way, it was a team work!

Thank you so much for your kind words. I wouldn’t mind at all if you return to spam me about desecration!

Happy holidays!