#i DO think hes a really well written and interesting character. and his redemption arc was very well done for the story he was in

[p2ii]

Genuinely think this is going to end up being my joker moment.

[moongothic]

In reference to this post; I was gonna reply in the comments but once again, it got too long, and I figured I might as well make a brief post about this because shit's interesting but the OG post was getting so long I didn't want to extend it any further. So. New post.

But I'm also going to make this a lowkey follow-up to this post, where I briefly talked about whether or not Crocodile is worthy of a redemption. Because I did have multiple people reply to it, mentioning they don't think Crocodile needs a redemption, which isn't wrong. Villian redemptions come down to personal preference (some people like them more than others generally speaking), and the specific circumstances of a character and the story they go through. (Personally, I am a fucking sucker for a good redemption story, and One Piece? Has how many redeemed villians? Kuma, Hatchan and Bon-chan? Perona too? Buggy and Mr 3 if we're generous??? I'm sure I'm forgetting someone, but the ratio is quite low is my point) The reason I want to bring that up again, is that depending on what Crocodile's trauma really boils down to (**since we don't know for sure what it is**), it could go against the very core messages of One Piece if he just dies without that trauma being resolved. And at the same time, if his trauma is what I think it is, then he can not heal from it without being redeemed. And the opposite is true as well, if his trauma isn't what I think it is, then he doesn't need to heal from it, and he doesn't need to be redeemed. I do have a whole separate post slow cooking in my drafts right now so I don't want to go too deep into that subject here and now. But the point is. If we want Crocodile to open up and be vunerable and heal from his shit, it means he's either getting a redemption arc or redemption in death. The latter is way fucking sadder, but again, a whole separate post.

BTW quick apology but I figured since there's a bunch of shit in this post that I've written about separately before, I might as well link to those posts for like context, so people can get where I'm coming from with my nonsense while keeping this post brief-ish

BUT ONTO THE ACTUAL SUBJECT As I have kind of mentioned before, I do think Crocodile probably has multiple layers of trauma going for him

We know losing to Whitebeard Did Things to his psyche for certain

I think it's very plausible he might've been betrayed by his former crew if he ever had one

I think it's likely Dragon didn't take too well to him transitioning

And between that and Crocodile already having tried to kill Luffy multiple times, he probably believes his son would never accept him as his other dad, especially since he already hates him.

(And I do think it's likely he might have some additional early childhood trauma based on how Oda writes these things normally but whatever that could be is an absolute mystery)

And if I'm right and those are (some of) the different layers of his trauma, then for Crocodile to open up and heal from it you'd need to do it step-by-step, layer by layer

I think Luffy accepting Crocodile would be the most important thing, above all else. Because if Crocodile loving and caring about his son is the only shred of humanity left in him, if Luffy is the only thing Crocodile cares about anymore while believing no one else will ever do so for him, then having that feeling returned is the key to getting Crocodile to just start to heal. If his son can't accept and forgive him then what would it matter what anyone else thinks? In my mind, Luffy is The Sledgehammer that can break Crocodile's walls.

But that's the first layer, the first step to getting Crocodile to become vunerable

If he does have that betrayal-based trauma, then I think finding people who would actually follow him and be loyal to him would help him heal on that front. And... This probably sounds strange, but I think Mihawk is the best candidate for it. Not just because he could be to Croc what Zoro is to Luffy (in many ways), and not just because of the Romancing SaGa 2 comparisons, but because Crocodile does already seem to respect Mihawk on some level. Like he specifically invited Mihawk to start Cross Guild with. IDK if they have like shared history before or if it's just because they're Fellow Former Warlords or simply because he knows Mihawk is strong and in a vunerable position (after losing his Shichibukai Rights) or what, but despite Crocodile saying he doesn't trust people, he seems to trust Mihawk enough to invite him. And he seems to respect Mihawk's opinions on things, like he might view themselves as equals. So if Mihawk, The Greatest Swordsman In The World of all people, genuinely expressed faith and loyalty to Crocodile... Yeah, I think that would do a lot for Croc. Especially if Mihawk found out about Crocodile's baggage and chose to follow him despite/because of it.

But if we want Crocodile to Heal ALL THE WAY. He and Dragon need to have a talk.

Which will not be easy, considdering like.

Look at that fucking expression on the panel on the right. Dragon is more than likely beyond furious with Crocodile over what he did in Alabasta. And for good reason. And frankly, I can't tell if they can ever come back from that.

(Sidenote, but this page these panels are from (from Chapter 1058) follows immidiately after the page where Buggy introduces Crocodile and Mihawk to Cross Guild, Dragon's placement on the bottom right of this page matching perfectly where Crocodile was placed in the previous page. So considdering what Dragon says and the expression he makes... Man, if there ever was a way for Oda to tell us what Dragon thinks of Crocodile without explicitly having him say it, yeah, this would be it)

And I'm sure that even if Crocodile got over whatever heartbreak might've happened between him and Dragon and just moved on... The fact that Dragon never called Crocodile and warned him about their son being a pirate, with a bounty, who might be on his way to the Grand Line, where he could stumble his way to Alabasta, where Crocodile was famous for his Pirate Crushing Heroics mind you... Yeah. Crocodile would have a perfectly understandable reason to be furious at Dragon too. He almost killed their son without knowing because Dragon never warned him, never told their son's name to him, never told his OWN full name to Crocodile.

So needless to say.

They have a lot of differences to overcome. Things they've done that they'd both need to look past, forgive and forget. Somehow. And I'd be lying if I didn't admit I'd find it damn near impossible to happen.

But can you imagine, if despite everything, Dragon still loved him? And was sorry about whatever the fuck happened 19 years ago? And didn't want to lose him again?

I think that would be the thing that would help Crocodile heal all the way in the end.

If Luffy is the first step, then Dragon is the last.

[bibibbon]

Horikoshi and Izuku (RANT)

It's to no one's suprise when I say that horikoshi hates his own main character but the problem is YOU CAN HATE YOUR OWN CHARACTER BUT MAKE THEM WELL WRITTEN AT THE SAME TIME (gege is capable of doing it with yuji)!!! Hori doesn't do this instead of logically making izuku suffer a bit in the narrative with stuff that is LOGICAL AND MAKES SENSE he literally just gives izuku BS problems to overcome and worst consequences. Look Iam not saying he has to like izuku and make everything good for him but I am saying he should treat izuku properly when it comes to the narrative and DEVELOP HIS CHARACTER. The main reason why Iam so upset about this is because Izuku is an interesting character who has so much potential to be better and he is the perfect main character for a story like MHA. I have said this before but izuku has SO MANY Parallels WITH SO MANY CHARACTERS it could be something as simple as shigaraki and izuku parallels or something as vague and hidden as aizawa and izuku.

Here are some issues that hori could of used and challenged his MC with:

Have him realise that he is WORTH more then he thinks he is - this is something very present within izukus character and hori did try/attempt to do this during the early arcs of MHA and the overhaul arc but it failed. I think this is one of the reasons as to why he is so self sacrificial is because he doesn't see his worth and lets be honest the narrative doesn't help him acknowledge it/ it makes it hard for him to do so but even if that is the case I do want to reach a point where he sees himself as worthy as of someone with worth.

Spend longer on Izuku's insecurities especially about him being an OFA user - it's without doubt Izuku has a lot of pressure to live up to when it comes to being the next and LAST OFA user which is something hori does try and tackle in the overhaul arc and a bit in ch 306 but it falls flat a bit. I feel like it would be better to have Izuku doubt himself from the get go when he gets the quirk and realises that he CAN'T AND DOESN'T know how to control it. Also, when Izuku realises he is THE LAST USER give us his thoughts, his fears, his anxieties. These are things that he would feel he is just a 16 year old with so much pressure on him that no one could handle.

Have Izuku realise that the way Katsuki and the way people treated him wasn't right also SHOW us how he feels about Katsuki and the apology in general - This is probably one of my biggest points because let me be honest katsukis redemption arc fell off for many reasons one of them being the lack of the victims opinion and before anyone tells me," oh izuku is kind he will forgive him and understand" or "obviously, Katsuki will be forgiven izuku cares for him" THOSE ARE BS CLAIMS BECAUSE IN THE EARLIER ARCS YOU CAN SEE IZUKU'S ANGER and negative emotions towards KATSUKI which hori just forgets about. Also, have Izuku acknowledge that yes people treated me badly and that I DESERVE BETTER

Have Izuku benefit from his relationships with other characters - what I mean by this is that in EVERY one of Izuku's relationships he never really gains something from them which makes it seem like he is distant with them so have the relationships he has go both way and not be one sided ( i wil go into deeper detail another time)

Focus on how getting a quirk has impacted Izukus life whether this be positive or negative - ever since Izuku has gotten into UA his life has dramatically changed but he hasn't. The only thing that cha he's about izuku is that he got a quirk that's it. Make izuku question this change make him try and understand if he likes this change or not? I mean he has friends now, his mum supports him, he has a father figure ( all might), he goes to one of the best schools and more. Have him feel confused about the change have him question if people would still accept him if he was his middle school self. Also focus on the negatives of him getting a Quirk, make him feel like an outsider he can't control his quirk etc.

Focus on Izuku's intelligence - Izuku is supposed to be intelligent this is when it comes to school work which we often DO see and his intelligence of strategy which is once in a while type of thing that WE NEED MORE OF. Have him rely on his intelligence to get by, when he is exploring with OFA have him try his own unique ways of releasing the quirk like OFA is power stockpile quirk so for it to do anything it needs to be released from the body which is something izuku can experiment with and him and mei ( a duo I love) can create support items to help this

Have him differentiate himself from all might / realise even all might is flawed as a hero - I mean NO ALL MIGHT BASHING but just have Izuku' s obsession of all might die down have him realise that all might has made mistakes and that he isn't some big great undefeatable hero but someone who tries his best and is reckless. Have Izuku understand that he can't necessarily be an exact copy of all might and that even all might caused some problems in hero society (unintentionally)

Izuku's anger - it's not unknown that when fighting and in the heat of a battle izuku can get angry especially when someone close to him is hurt. Iam all for that so I feel like it would be better to dive deep into that and explore why that happens also give him some consequences from those actions

Challenge Izuku's own moral beliefs - have him realise that hero society is flawed. That heros are flawed and so are villains. Have him question and change his morals especially when it comes to shigaraki. Can he really save him? Or is gran Torino right is death the only way to save shigaraki? Have Izuku strive for a better more equal society one that helps people and doesn't isolate others because of their differences?

Confront the problems he has with adults like trusting an adult to help you etc - we don't see this a lot with Izuku and honestly a lot of adults have failed izuku in his life which is sad like let's be honest even all might and inko failed izuku in their own ways

These are just a few ways you can improve Izuku's character and tbh there are definitely more I haven't included. You can also make izuku suffer from the narrative with consequences THAT MAKE SENSE!!!!

[hamliet]

I'm really worried now about how bnha is going to end. I fell in love with the story because a lot of horikoshi's hero characters (nana, enji, hawks for example) were allowed to have flaws while his villain characters were still painted as sympathetic and human without having their villainy be erased. Now I'm feeling like hori is trying to turn this into a good vs bad kind of thing and the message is going more and more into the direction of some people are in fact born evil. on the one hand, we are constantly being told that all villains are human and that deku is special because he can see that, on the other hand we have AFO who is supposed to be the bad guy behind it all and heartless and whom the narrative never sympathizes with. it's all very odd to me. You could potentially argue that afo is a product of his environment and that nana, Kotaro, and shigaraki all made their choices in the end no matter how much they were being manipulated, but I got the feeling that the narrative doesn't believe that and even if it does, it bothers me that it refuses to acknowledge it. it feels so empty and cowardly, like horikoshi can't decide between "this guy is the big bad and just pure evil" and "every villain has a human heart" and like he doesn't actually believe in redemption as a concept, only in good people who do bad things but don't mean it and bad people who are really just bad. there's just something gross about it in general

I mean... yeah. That's why it's a thematic mess.

I will say that I think Hori isn't attempting to argue that he doesn't believe in redemption; it's more that

he wants to please everyone, and actually

he wants everyone to root for redemption.

By Trying to Please Everyone, You've Pleased No One.

I've actually talked about this before particularly in regards to the Endeavor arc, where it felt thematically confused because he was trying to placate both sides--people who didn't want Enji redeemed because they feared he would wash away the abuse, and people who wanted him redeemed. And we know Horikoshi initially had different plans for Enji but changed it, so this is partly to blame as well.

But the reality is it's a stronger story if the story isn't written to be enjoyed by everyone. If people can dislike parts of it. Even if people scream about how it's morally bad for saying circumstances influence how people become or something like that. (Those attacks come from genuine pain, and I honestly get the feeling that Hori is very, very aware of this, especially considering how visceral he writes abuse. But that doesn't mean they are themselves valid criticisms.)

You can't please everyone. You just can't. No one wants every single ice cream flavor melted together. Not every story will be for everyone. And no, that doesn't mean you should be deliberately hurtful, but if you're writing a story where the abuser is redeemed, if you want to portray the abuser as human, some victims may not want to read it. But many will want to read it. And both are okay. Some people will misunderstand you, and that's just--life.

The reality is that in this world everyone has competing needs, and what can meet someone's need doesn't meet another's, and that's okay. The beauty of humanity is that with all the billions of us on this earth, someone should be able to help meet someone else's needs in a certain area. You can't feed everyone, but you can feed someone, and watering down the story so that it's basically now devoid of nutrients/what makes a story interesting doesn't actually help anyone. By trying to please everyone, you've pleased no one.

Hori Is Very Pro-Redemption

I genuinely think Hori somehow decided to try to make Shigaraki extremely palatable not because he doesn't believe in redemption, but because he wants everyone to believe in it and root for Shigaraki.

It's not unique for him to retcon characters' mistakes; like I said, he's done this with Enji, with All Might, and with Hawks where he very obviously swerves from the initial plan. However, that weakens the very themes and the characters, and makes the story less interesting and objectively less well-written.* And now this AFO reveal, considering it's the main plot, kinda throws these more subplot ideas to the back burner and weakens the entire frame of the story rather than just the subplot.

So Hori's into redemption. The problem is that he doesn't know how to convince everyone that redemption is worth it, and so makes it so obvious that it's devoid of any actual interesting questions we can ponder. Essentially if you refuse redemption for Shig now, what's wrong with you? It's nigh morally impossible not to.

But I, Redemption Arc #1 Fan, like it when it's questionable. Redemption, for me, is never about deserve.

It's disappointing, but I've also seen way worse lol in terms of thematically undermining a story at its ending. So, no, I'm not happy about it and I will critique it. But I still want to see the characters I've loved for so long get their happy endings.

*Yes, "good writing" is an opinion; however, there are general consensuses of what constitute good and bad writing. This type of thing--removing agency completely in the last hour--is bad writing.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Wow, well now we know why the creators walked away from Neflix's travesty of an adaptation. i.e. The showrunners wanted to "tone down Sokka's sexism". They completely overlook that his sexism is an intentionally-written character flaw that he is supposed to gradually overcome as a part of his character development. Media literacy and nuance is truly dead.

I'm surprise so many people are surprised this is happening. It's Netflix. They're completely incapable of making a story that isn't completely based on making as bland and innofensive as possible, with cheap "girlboss" and/or fanservice added in the mix in the hopes that no one notices it is complete trash.

I wouldn't be surprised if Netflix also tries pandering to the "Zuko is a saint that didn't do anything wrong ever" crowd, making his redemption arc, and his presence in the story really, useless.

It's the same as Disney removing Li Shang from the Mulan remake because "it's inapropriate for them to have a romance considering he is her superior" - nevermind that he never used his status to get anything from her, and was more focused on, ya know, teaching everyone to fight so they wouldn't fucking die. Just a bunch of executives that don't give a shit botching a story because they don't understand what makes it work and what fans like.

I was talking it over with my best friend, and we concluded that Netflix would be the kind to make a Mulan adaptation and go "Her dad is perfectly good health actually, and women are allowed to join the army. Mulan's dad only doesn't want her to go because she's 12 or something, while he's a grown man that has been a war before, but she goes anyway because she's a Feminist Icon Girlboss Queen (because "princess" is sexist)" and not realize that this removed the central theme of the story, killed half the fucking stakes, and made the main character unlikable, unreasonable, and unsympathetic.

Seriously, think about it for a second - if Sokka doesn't have his VERY mild, very teenage-like sexism early on, why does Suki even need to exist? Her only two roles in the story are "Make Sokka rethink sexism" and "Date Sokka." Netflix is so paranoid of seeming sexist that, instead of fixing the actual problem of "Hm, this female character that fans like is kind of irrelevant outside stuff regarding her boyfriend, let's flesh her out some more" they went for the route that makes her useless and doesn't allow her to show she is both willing to stand up for herself when disrespected AND to forgive and help someone if they show genuine regret and interest.

It's all downhill from here, folks. Brace yourselves.

(Also the fucking nerve of Netflix. They gave the lead actress for Wednesday absurdly long days of work while she had fucking covid, and made the pedo-bait attrocity that was "Cuties", but a story having a 4-episode mini-arc of "Male character realizes sexism is bad" is "iffy", sending a bad exemple and disrespectful to girls and women? Fuck off)

[antianakin]

I find it really interesting that you don’t like kallus at all bc say what you will about fulcrum or kalluzeb but he’s the first ex-/imperial character that we saw on screen who wasn’t already defected when we met him. Like obvs you’ve got Han and Sabine who started off in the academy and then left bc they realised in wasn’t what they wanted and tala who’s already a mole for the path by the time she’s on screen but most other characters we interact with regularly and significantly either stay imperial or have never been one as far as we know. And I think that watching kallus’ arc play out as he realises that no the empire isn’t worth it actually and it is worse and the rebels he’s fighting and trying to capture are better and are the good guys is just so fascinating to watch. If anakin’s arc in tcw and the prequels is about him getting worse and worse and making all the wrong choices again and again then kallus’s overarching storyline is about learning that actually his choices were wrong and he is the villain and he needs to accept that and try to do better as best he can. Ymmv on how well it was executed (and I do think there are parts that could have been done so much better) but the bare bones are there (and also I do love the interactions he has with kanan and Ezra post defection pre extraction where they’re like “this guy 😤” and are doing things like throwing him through glass screens to cover for him bc hey! They’re helping and they get to be a bit petty about it bc they still don’t like him and he just. Has to put up with it bc he’s on their side now and they are technically helping him)

I don’t know I just think it’s a pretty interesting arc to follow and I do think that however clumsily handled (again ymmv on how clumsily), the idea in his character of “it’s not too late to change and to choose to do better, you can unlearn your prejudice and biases and you can always start trying to do good no matter who you are” is a really important message that feels like Star Wars yk

(Side note: I just wanted to add that I love the anakin salt and the pro Jedi posts. I always pop around your blog when I’ve seen a few too many “he’s misunderstood” takes for my own good and it’s really cathartic to see someone else point out he sucks in new ways I hadn’t yet considered. I also find your Ahsoka takes super interesting bc most other things I see either just straight up do not like her or think she’s perfect where I always fell in the middle of “she’s interesting and narratively seems to be there to point out how anakin could have been if he’d made different choices since their flaws are so similar” ❤️❤️❤️)

This probably should have been split into two asks but I’ve written it all out now and my break is over so I guess it’s going to be one

Hi! I'm glad my blog helps provide you an area to just feel a little bitter sometimes when fandom gets hard, that's exactly why I made it for myself, just an escape when I'm starting to forget why I like this stuff sometimes and I just need to get rid of some of the bitterness.

I'm not against the IDEA of an Imperial character who turns against the Empire, of watching an Imperial character start to learn better and change sides. I promise I'm not!

I just think it shouldn't have been Kallus. I don't personally believe that they had a redemption arc in mind for Kallus when they were writing him in the first season at all. I don't know when the idea first got brought up for the writers, but it doesn't really seem to be one they had in mind in early season 2, either, so it just comes out of NOWHERE in that episode with Zeb where they get stuck in the ice. And the side effect of this lack of set up means that they really were writing Kallus as an irredeemable villain. He led a genocide against Zeb's people, he laughs at Zeb about being a survivor, he uses one of the Lasat's weapons as a trophy he took from that genocide. He turns against one of his own fellow officers at the end of season 1/beginning of season 2 when Tarkin and Vader show up and want someone to answer for their failure on Lothal. He helps lead Tua to her death and SMILES about the whole thing. Tua's death could've been a way to begin that journey, give him a crack in the wall where he feels doubt about what they're doing, but it DOESN'T, it just makes him MORE of a fanatic.

So when you get to that episode with Zeb in the ice, all of the sudden you have to take Kallus at his word that he DIDN'T lead the genocide he's already been saying he led, that he DIDN'T steal the Lasat weapon he already said he stole, that he totally had a sorta sympathetic reason for wanting an entire group of people eliminated from the galaxy, and that he apparently cares about having friends in the Empire. This isn't just a retcon of his backstory, it's a retcon of his CHARACTER. And they have to "all lives matter" the entire situation to do it by having him point out that Zeb judges all Imperials the same (and sees them all as enemies) which is somehow equivalent to Kallus judging an entire SPECIES for the actions of ONE PERSON and choosing to go genocide the entire species as a result. That's not just clumsy, that's OFFENSIVE. This is one of the WORST written episodes of Star Wars I have ever seen, which is saying something since I've seen the Ahsoka show and the Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian Season 3.

I think my major issue with Kallus's "arc", beyond the offensiveness of the retcon of his entire character, is that it isn't really an arc at all. It's ONE episode. The next time we even SEE Kallus, he's already willing to help Sabine escape from the Empire and then season 3 goes on to basically tell us he's been acting as a spy most of the season now. We DON'T actually get to see that arc for Kallus, he spends a few hours in the ice with Zeb and that's all it takes to turn him against the Empire really. The few times he shows up in-between don't do a lot to really emphasize a JOURNEY he's going on, he's just already on the side of the rebels and trying to push back against the Empire. And he fucking SUCKS at it, too. They have to come rescue his ass TWICE because he wasn't good enough at being a spy to not get caught and then he has the fucking GALL to think he's thrown off Thrawn and refuses to run when Kanan and Ezra risk their necks to save him which is what directly leads to Chopper Base being discovered. So not only is his redemption "arc" barely there anyway, he's an awful rebel and an awful spy.

This is why I keep arguing that it should've been PRYCE to be the Imperial defector. She isn't introduced to the story until season 3, and so her character is basically a big blank slate. They'd MENTIONED her, but all we knew is that she was the governor of the planet or something and she was gone on Coruscant dealing with stuff. This and the fact that she has an ACTUAL connection to Lothal by being FROM THE PLANET gives her a really really excellent pathway towards turning on the Empire. Maybe she sided with the Empire because she genuinely believed it would help save them from what everyone else suffered by fighting back. Maybe she was promised certain advantages if she sided with the Empire that they could show haven't been kept. Let her CARE about Lothal and its people just enough for her to have a REASON to turn against the Empire and see its truth.

It's one of the other reasons I don't like using Kallus, he's not really emotionally connected to any character but Zeb. Turning Kallus does very little for the main characters Ezra and Kanan. If they were going to turn an Imperial character, which IS a fairly big thing to put into a narrative, I feel like it should've impacted the MAIN characters far more than it actually does. Let Ezra, the person whose story is being told here, be a part of the reason that Imperial character turns. Let that journey away from the Empire be something they're actively WORKING on rather than something that primarily happens off screen in Kallus's head.

I think the only reason they chose Kallus for this was because fans already liked him and they couldn't figure out what else to do with him at this point. He's a basically ineffective villain because he keeps having to lose and the only times he "wins" against the crew is when they LET him win by sacrificing themselves or something. And they were already starting to write him out as an antagonist by including Vader, Tarkin, the Inquisitors, and they might've known they were bringing in Thrawn in season 3 (and maybe that Pryce would finally show up) by the time that ice episode was being written. Kallus was becoming irrelevant, but fans enjoyed him so they had to figure out a way to make him relevant moving forward, and so, quick and dirty redemption "arc" so he can move to the rebel side. You'll notice he barely does anything in season 4, though, once he's moved to the rebellion he's just kinda... there. Irrelevant again because he's not actually good enough at anything to be worth having him DO anything important or interesting to the plot.

A LOT of people seem to think Kallus's "redemption" was really well done and I just can't agree. I think it would've been better to take Kallus a different direction, to really have him just succumb to being evil, to become even MORE of a fanatic for the Empire moving forward, and then just pick someone else to be the defected Imperial character. Or they should've had a redemption arc in mind for Kallus from the beginning. Using Tua's death to start the process of doubt in his mind, or having him be the one the Empire turns on would've both worked. They didn't give themselves enough time to really write him a good redemption arc where the reasons for why he turns on the Empire actually feel in character to what we've been told and shown of him so far.

I think if you just... start in season 3 and act like Kallus has HAD a true redemption arc already by season 3, then those scenes work. The humor of the Rebels crew starting to discover Kallus is on their side now and not entirely trusting that and wanting to punt him through a window IS funny! I, too, would like to throw Kallus through a window several times, even perhaps over a cliff or out an airlock. But those scenes come with the context of having seen the first two seasons and feeling the VERY abrupt 180 his character took without the show doing any of the actual work to make his defection seem realistic or reasonable. Season 3 is fine for Kallus, the scenes are funny, etc. But he wasn't actually redeemed yet and neither season 2 nor season 3 do the work to showcase that journey.

And I think that this is likely one of the reasons we DON'T see very many Imperial redemption stories and most of the Imperial defectors we see are already defected when we meet them. You can count Gorn and Taramyn from Andor in this category, as well. It's HARD to take a character who's been set up as violent, selfish, and cruel, and REALLY do the work necessary to turn them around into someone who would genuinely turn on the Empire and join the Rebellion. It's by no means impossible, but it takes a lot of work and a lot of focus on said character. Most of these shows and stories aren't willing to put in that kind of work because they're focusing on someone else who needs their story told instead, so it's easier to just... have someone who's already changed sides.

All of that being said, there IS a character who we've seen go through this arc that I think was done MILES better than Kallus.

Reva Sevander. An Inquisitor (possibly BY CHOICE unlike all of the others who were presumably captured and broken into it) working for the Empire, who DOES do violent and selfish stuff, but who ultimately leaves that behind by the end of the season. Reva, who obviously was written with that turn in mind, and so her tragedy is BAKED into her character from the moment the show begins (we literally start the ENTIRE SHOW with a flashback of Reva at the Temple when Order 66 starts, and the terror of that night). The twist in her character, that she's doing all of this as a way to get closer to Anakin so she can kill him as vengeance for the Jedi, doesn't feel like it comes out of nowhere. It's just always been there FROM THE BEGINNING. Making her an Inquisitor, something Jedi: Fallen Order and some comic books have fleshed out into people who weren't given much choice in becoming monsters, was an expert choice. Using her to parallel and foil Anakin, someone whose primary storyline is that he was a GOOD person who turned bad and still had good in him, also helps her out.

I'd argue Reva hasn't gone on a full "redemption arc" as yet, she's sort-of barely scratched the surface of it, but she does obviously make the choice to STOP going down the path she's on, to turn away from her anger and vengeance, and leaves behind being an Inquisitor and the darkness she'd succumbed to. The reasons for why she does the things she does MAKE SENSE, they're narratively relevant, they're important to the main character of the story she's in, and the writers didn't wait too long to tell us more about her and her motivations. It's expertly done in my opinion.

So while Kallus might have been the first Imperial defector to show up in mainstream Star Wars, he is not the ONLY Imperial character we have seen to turn against the Empire. And yet Kallus gets praise and accolades for being such a great character with such a great character arc, while Reva got panned and critiqued for being unlikable. I wonder what could be the reason behind that.

So I think you and I have fairly similar feelings on this in that the IDEA of a redeemed Imperial character whose journey towards turning on the Empire is actually shown is a GOOD story to tell (with a very Star Wars style message, as you say), but that the way it was done with Kallus was REALLY badly written. You seem to be leaning towards liking the concept enough that the clumsiness of it is outweighed, whereas I hate the clumsy way it was written so much that my positive feelings towards the concept are outweighed.

And I deserve a good Reva show where we get to follow more of her character post-OWK where she still has to work on herself and figure out who she is now that she's left the darkness behind. Finish the arc she's only just started on.

[just-sp-in-inginthevoid]

Hello. I am wondering why you start liking Takeomi. He is the most hated character by the fandom and your choice of wet soggy cat is very unique. I want to listen your ramblings.

Oh anon, if only I knew

I'll try to remember how it happened, that much I think I got it.

So, when I first got into TR, my mind mostly focused on Mitsuya and the Shiba (mostly Taiju), so much so that I ended up writing a lot more than I thought I ever will on Taiju and explaining where his behavior comes from

Because it seems like a lot of people missed some important information. And by doing that I was able to show them details they had missed (prove that I was right in previous posts where I didn't justified myself and basically got called a liar by someone in the notes which incredibly pissed me off-) and, although that doesn't excuse what Taiju did, it does explain it and makes him more.. real? Maybe not relatable, but his domestic abuse didn't pop up out of nowhere and a lot of people know what intergenerational trauma can do so while still hating Taiju they could understand him better.

Then, having finished my Taiju analysis which also opened my eyes since I found more than what I initially thought about; I myself was able to understand him better and so I thought-

Why not do that with every hated characters in the fandom?

I don't quite recall if my (at the time, very slight) interest in Takeomi happened a bit before or at that time, but the reason why I focused on him before the others (which, uh, aren't a lot anyway) was because I saw stuffs written about him which I didn't really agree with? Like, yeah, he was flawed and raised his siblings badly - especially when next to Shinichiro who was (at least depicted as)(and try to be) good at it - but they were kinda amplifying things

I know that a lot of people relate to Sanzu, or just, love him, and since they saw things I haven't seen, I told myself 'well, let's investigate, then' and then I wrote about 17k words on Takeomi's psychology.

I literally walked myself into the Takeomi rabbit-hole (what a FUCKING mistake /positive)

Takeomi did neglect his siblings, and passive-aggressively verbally, or even emotionally, abused Sanzu and for most of the fandom, is not attractive (and, let's not lie, beauty is a redeeming quality for a lot of characters regardless of fandom. How many characters, no matter their faults, get forgiven by fans just because they're hot, uh?). So he sucks, yeah

You know what he did do? acknowledged his mistakes, apologized for them and would have started his redemption arc if Wakui had had the time for that when warping up the story

He made mistakes, he's flawed, he's human, he wasn't even supposed to be here because he only entered the delinquent world to keep following Shinichiro, his ego which was back then very weak and non-existent got inflated for either survival or because he received so many compliments he didn't know what to do with it if not both because he was a k i d.

Most of the characters in TR are kids or young adults when they commit things they shouldn't have done. And yes, you can hold them accountable for it but they didn't know better - they didn't have the tools to

Now, why do I like Takeomi.

First of all - the amount of flaws he has. Don't think I need to make the list, I think everyone's got it (although make sure to remember he's got an inferiority complex and it's most likely that he also has an imposter syndrome so he's just like me fr-). But even with that, he's never an antagonist. He does things wrong but he's on our side (he's just very deaf to anyone's opinion that doesn't fit his). He sucked at raising his siblings as a kid himself (before his superiority complex developed and during it too - albeit in different ways) but that's just.. realistic? Not that it takes away the seriousness of it and the consequences, but how else could it have been? The impact on Sanzu were disastrous (not that they were the only reason why Sanzu lost it), I understand that, I don't erase that nor deny it BUT THERE'S A REASON WHY TAKEOMI IS LIKE THIS, TOO. And if people blame Takeomi for his actions (which, again, fair.) then blame Sanzu for his!! he was willing to mass murder hundreds of people!!! including his sister!!! he killed a few people!! argh. But Sanzu got his tragic-backstory/childhood shown and has a design that appeals to most, so I guess it's harder to hold him accountable for the seriousness of his actions (I like Sanzu, don't get me wrong. But sometimes the hypocrisy of some fans makes me a tiny bit angry 🙃)

Anyway, reason 84123286 of why I need Takeomi's backstory. Bc, honestly, from what we know of him as a kid+his coping mechanisms as a teen/adult, it would make sense to me if one of the reason he was so hostile to Sanzu was because he saw himself in him and Didn't Like ItTM (for different reasons) (!!! Which would add nicely to Shinichiro seeing himself in Mikey!!! more sano-akashi parallels, lets goooooooo) Talking about the parallels between the two, the fact he's Shinichiro's narrative foil compels me lots. Takeomi is quite literally Shinichiro with a negative filter on. And how can he survived that? How can he cope with the fact that no matter how much he wants and tries to be Shinichiro he'd never succeed? He'd always be the pale copy, the wood statue covered with golden leaves that are peeling away with time next to the pure gold statue. The Teru Teru Bozu that fails to chase the rain away and is going to be decapitated for his ineptitude. He'd always be himself and that's what he hates the most. He'd always be compared to Shinichiro and there's nothing he can do about it. And he can't even be angry at Shinichiro. That's his best friend. He loves him. He has been the first to love him. He has been there before anyone else. He can't lose Shinichiro, Shinichiro gave him everything. Everything he cares about, he sees value of, at least. Immaculate.

I'll also die on the hill that he is competent. He himself has no idea on what but he is (he mixes everything. For him it'd go like this: he gets praised but he's done nothing, Shinichiro has done everything which means they praised him for what Shinichiro has done. Which means what Shinichiro do, he does too. Which means Shinichiro's achievements are his as well! right? He didn't do anything by himself, there's no need to praise him for something else.)(he's fully blind that strategically-speaking and in other brainy-brain domains he's competent af. Bc since it comes 'easily' to him - since he doesn't struggle much with it, or in contrary he struggles so much he cannot possibly be good at it, then there's nothing to praise. And like, for him what Shinichiro does deserve to be praised. What he himself does is just.. things he does so compliments feel shallow)(+Bonten strives as much as Bad Toman and Manila if not more, yet there's no Kisaki. Ofc there's still Koko so that helps, but Takeomi is new to the team and got recruited (at least that what Senju said) in Brahman for his ~wisdom~)

He's also the only character who was around before Shinichiro 1) became a big brother 2) became a delinquent and that has to mean something. They're the only ones left to remember how the other was before their life went to shit

In the final timeline, he looks so healthy. He made peace with himself, his relationship with his siblings is good, he made amends. He healed, they healed. His relationship with Shinichiro, Benkei and Wakasa is good too everything's great. He learnt to understand what he is competent in and focus on it; he's not Shinichiro, he'll never be and that's okay. He's him and what he is complete Shinichiro just as Shinichiro complete him – they take care of one another's flaws but can also know live independently from each other. Perhaps, perhaps Takeomi stopped being so dependent of him

Appearance-wise, I love dark hair+green eyes combo in general so it wasn't that hard (plus there are some godly fanarts out there)

And of course: despite his complexity, at the end of the day - he's really just a pathetic wet poor excuse of a man who can't do anything right and isn't that endearing

I'm slowly getting out of the denial-phase to enter my acceptance-phase when it comes to loving Takeomi. Liking things most people hate or are neutral about is smth I hate for Reasons but it also seems to always happen lolololol. Will try to talk more about Takeomi when it comes to my mind, in case ppl who also love him but don't want to make it known because of his bad reputation in the fandom saw my posts and feel a bit more okay and comfortable with loving him

[gale-gentlepenguin]

How would you rank the main 6 villains of the first arc of ML (Gabriel, Nathalie, Lila, Chloe, Felix and Tomoe) based on their writing ?

Based on writing? Well damn. (Twist my arm)

Okay so let’s start

But just know I will be discussing spoilers

6th Tomoe

I put Tomoe last not because she’s written badly but because she’s really written with the least amount of time as one and isn’t given much to work with. Tomoe isn’t a good mother, but her actions are more about a deal she made rather than an ambition. She cares about Kagami to a degree where she doesn’t want her involved in Gabriel’s akuma attacks. Tomoe is doing what she thinks is in the best interest of her family name, but she really doesn’t see the consequences of those actions. She also just gave Gabriel the tech rather than do it herself. So number 6.

5th Chloé

Now we get into bad writing territory, in season 1 she was the typical bully character. In season 2 and 3 she was the sympathetic mean girl who wanted to change. Season 4 she was back to square one after all of her redeeming qualities were stolen by Zoe. Then season 5 she was just a dictator puppet. So really it’s tragic how poorly written she is. Because this descent into evil could have worked if written better. But it isn’t.

4th Lila/Cerise/ Whatever her real name is

You can tell the writers tried to write a competent, manipulator that always gets what she wants because of the way she twists her words and her plans are clever. But the problem is… the level of skill needed for the execution was lacking. Now she has 3 moms, multiple identities and a secret lair in the catacombs. The main problem though isn’t that Lila is written smart, it’s that everyone not named Marinette or Adrien is written stupid when she’s around. Lila could easily be the best villain if she had some better writing but… it’s just so dumb at times.

3rd Gabriel Agreste

The writers wanted to portray a desperate man that would do anything for the family he loved that became blinded by his obsession. They made a selfish bastard that used his family to justify evil actions and bend the world to his whim. Now to be fair there were times where you could see the former, but Gabriel’s writing is so… All over the place.

I still can’t believe they let the guy win. Like what the fuck was even the point of the 5 seasons of fighting him.

2. Felix

Felix is technically more of an antihero, but he is likely the most calculating and ACTUALLY manipulative of the series. He outsmarted Ladybug and Monarch. His reveal as a sentimonster and his reasoning for his actions is the only positive thing I enjoyed regarding the sentimonster shenanigans. Now he is no longer a villain but his actions propelled the season 4 and 5 plots and should be considered someone on his own caliber. But he’s not number one because there is someone better

1. Nathalie

The arguably best written villain in all of Miraculous. She works to help Gabriel achieve his goal and is the main reason he got as far as he did, by her sacrifices and pushing her mind body and soul to the limits. She believed Gabriel was noble for his goal and was the one that saw first hand his descent into madness. And that’s when she had enough. Her change against him was because she knew the truth and wanted to stop the madness. If she was the one in charge it’s far more likely she would have gotten the miraculous without falling into such a state. She is one of the few people whose redemption I genuinely believe in this show

[redwolf17]

So i'm curious why did you decide to kill Tyrion at the Blackwater. Don't get me wrong I despise Tyrion and he deserves all the humiliation and rejections he gets in Storm. I was just asking because I wondered how Tyrion would have reacted to Sansa calling Tywin a cowardly oathbreaker in public.

Hi anon! Totally a fair question. Someone else also asked about Tyrion recently over on Ao3, so I'm gonna copy/paste my answer.

GRRM loves Tyrion so, so much.

I… do not. While Tyrion is a very well written character, I do not enjoy him. Yes, Tyrion has his moments of kindness and generosity, he has some witty lines and compelling scenes... but I just cannot get over how vicious he can be. Yes, he suffered horrific abuse from Tywin which informs his determination to punch down against others. Yes, the ableism he faces sucks, and no one should have to endure it. That informs his actions; he is not cruel solely for the sake of being cruel.

But. But. This is a man whose reaction to Tywin's slaughter of Masha Heddle for the crime of being a hepless bystander was to reproach her pitiful corpse for events completely beyond her control. This is a man who sent Bronn to grab Shae (or rather, the prettiest whore he could find) like he was shopping for a carpet; Tyrion's chapters are steeped in some of the worst misogyny of any POV. Yes, Cersei is an incompetent asshole, but Tyrion constantly antagonizes her to his own detriment (just as he antagonized Catelyn and Lysa previously), and his contempt for Cersei and his "jokes" about wanting to rape her are disgusting. This is a man who creeped on the "beautiful" 12 year old Sansa throughout ACOK and BARELY managed not to rape her during ASOS.

I swear, the show whitewashes Tyrion so aggressively, people forget that in the books Tyrion made Sansa strip naked, HE stripped naked, he groped her breast, he made her look at his naked, erect penis, and only then, when he saw how terrified/repulsed Sansa was, did he finally stop. Not because he suddenly grew a conscience, but because he resented Sansa for not wanting him, for not pretending to want him, and blamed it on his looks/dwarfism rather than acknowledging she would have likely been just as terrified with ANY Lannister, because she's a 12 year old hostage facing imminent rape!

Tyrion murders Shae for the crime of being in Tywin's bed, as if she had any choice about being there. He resents her for testifying against him, as if Shae, a random sex worker, could have said no to Cersei and refused to bear witness. He wants to burn the whole Vale of Arryn in retribution for Lysa being a dick which, yes, she was, but his desire for retribution is outsized to say the least). Tyrion consistently resents the smallfolk for not worshipping him even though he puts 0 effort into PR whatsoever. He threatens the bedwarmer in Illyrio's house with rape and murder; he DOES rape the poor "sunset girl" later at a brothel.

GRRM loves Tyrion as a grey-and-getting-darker villain, and gives him some of the most unnecessary, bloated chapters throughout the series. GRRM sees Tyrion offer crumbs of kindness to Jon, to Bran, and thinks that somehow tips the scales against all the terrible things Tyrion does. But what other good things does Tyrion do? Like, I'm not giving him a medal for not raping Sansa, not raping terrified 12 year old girls is a LOW bar to clear! What other good deeds has Tyrion done?

Aaaaanyway, after all that rambling, here's my thoughts on Tyrion in TWQ. I really, REALLY had no interest in doing a twist on his book canon arc, which meant my options for what to do with him were pretty open. I could have done a redemption arc, but frankly, I didn't want to. It would require a LOT of time and effort to do it properly, and plenty of other fics have "redeemed" Tyrion (although usually by ignoring his vicious misogyny rather than by confronting it; or they just depict him as heroic from the start because the show nuked his characterization).

And I had zero interest in making Tyrion an ongoing villain, which is the approach some other fics have taken. Reading his ADWD chapters is punishment enough, let alone trying to write something that grotesque. Not to mention the... uh... not so great history of fiction often ignoring disabled people except to depict them as villains or helpless, agency-free pawns like poor Lollys Stokeworth. GRRM... sorta tries to handle disability with nuance, but I don't think he always hits the mark. Side note, Paul the Pious, Edythe, Bran, Jaime, and a plethora of disabled side characters both good and bad are my effort to push back on that trend.

So, by Part II, I already had a vague idea that TWQ was going to spiral into a larger tale, and I knew that doing anything with Tyrion after Part II would require a LOT of work I wasn't interested in doing. So... I decided not to do it. Writing fanfic is a hobby for fun, and developing an entire Tyrion arc I found worth telling did not sound fun. Especially since I knew I was going to force myself to tackle both Dany in Essos and the Others, which were/are a headache and a half but essential to the overall story. So... karma bit Tyrion in the ass, and a combo of his wildfire (which he used on his own men!) and Cersei (maybe breaking her arm was a bad idea?) finished him off.

[bonebabbles]

Riverstar's Home Finished

It's a good book in the last 5 chapters. It's a bad book in the first 23.

THE GOOD:

It pumped the breaks BIG TIME on Clear Sky's ridiculous "redemption arc," giving him the space to be the fantastic, greedy villain he functions best as.

The dialogue is written very well. It's been pointed out to me that generally Kate Cary writes good dialogue, and it really shows. There are some excellent lines and quotes in this book.

This scene between Tall Shadow and River Ripple is superb.

Riverstar's arc is handled competently. It's a story about learning to balance peace and self-defense, and not lose what makes him special in the face of Clan pressure.

Night, Riverstar's deputy, is a woman who remains his platonic friend. This is a very low bar but it was cleared.

Arc is a positive portrayal of an adoptive parent, though it is only mentioned briefly. Riverstar thinks highly and lovingly of him.

Gray Wing being angry tutorial tips every time Riverstar died was funny.

Clan cats being able to create rafts and use willowbark as binding is now canon

The ending action is commendable. The struggle over the bridge was compelling, and excellently showcased both Riverstar as a unique perspective who handles conflict in his own way, and Skystar as a xenophobic dictator who uses his religion to justify his greed.

THE BAD:

So many characters come out of nowhere, they are introduced endlessly.

Which especially sucks because those intros aren't terrible, but you don't get the chance to see their traits in action.

A lot of Riverstar's most interesting traits have been removed, or are not complimented by the story.

For example; in Chapter 19 he starts having an identity crisis about who he is and what makes him special; but because he's frustrated and lost about this for several chapters, you just get Grumpy Riverstar until he has his epiphany while fighting Slash.

MOST of this book is recap that destroys a MASSIVE draw of the character by making him less mysterious.

For example; Turns out he couldn't swim until the second book of DOTC, he hasn't been in this territory longer than the other cats, and he spent 6 months locked in a house doing nothing.

It's a real slog and PACKED with filler. God it's boring. The first 18 chapters have nothing to do with the last few and 5 more are dedicated to traveling.

They managed to brutally kill another female character (Flutter) in an arc already notorious for its misogyny, give her no speaking lines before that death, and forced blubbering romantic pining onto a character who was popular in large part because he didn't have that.

His new mate, Finch (later Finch Song), appears suddenly in chapter 24, three quarters of the way through the book, and they fall in love at breakneck pace. She's pregnant 4 chapters later.

Finch also ends up giving up everything she loved, her whole life, including her friends and family, to follow Riverstar home and give him biokittens so he can finally get over Flutter. (they dont even name a kid after her)

Final rating: 4/10 Should have been a novella

It's not as fucking awful as Onestar's Concussion or Leopardstar's Hernia. It is a readable enough book and does have a solid ending, but you could skip more than half of the book and miss nothing.

Fans of Riverstar will probably be disappointed by the pointless retcons, but will enjoy the last 10 or so chapters when he's true-to-form. The original content that's worth reading would have fit just fine into a novella.

If you want to read it but aren't interested in a DOTC recap, I would recommend just reading the Tall Shadow/River Ripple scene I linked above and then starting from Chapter 19 onward. I wouldn't buy this one unless you're a dedicated Riverstar fan, or don't plan to read DOTC and want to use this book as your only experience of the main arc.

[hotchocolatefanfics]

Hi I really loved your fanfics they are so interesting and quirky! I hope you continue to write and explore those ideas and your writing in general. I can empathize with your sentiments about your dad, my father also passed away a few years ago and IK what you mean by being angry with the world and its continuous pace. I really resonate with your statement about being angry about how the world can keep moving when your father is not in it. I really love the PoTA films as I also used to watch them with my dad as well! A question I guess I have for you is if the movies could be played out differently how do you think Koba could be reformed? In other words if things were different how do you think Koba’s story could have gone? Do you think he could ever be written as a reformed character? Thank you for reading and my sentiments and condolences go out to you ❤️

Hello, and thank you! I’ve really grown to love angst and romantic themes since writing PoTA fanfics so I hope to explore them in the PoTA world soon. I’m sorry about your dad too. It feels weird that things keep happening without him there, doesn’t it? I hope re-watching the PoTA movies remind you of good times with your dad as they do with me. 

And now for your question! 

If there were to be any reform in Koba, something would have to change his mind about humans. Thanks to Rise and the Firestorm book, we get a very in-depth idea of Koba’s backstory leading up to his escape in Rise. We know that Koba faced years of abuse and torture at the hands of humans which caused his deep hatred of them to begin with (which I think we can all agree is valid but still). 

Koba rarely encountered a friendly human during this time and when he did they didn’t stay long enough to show him kindness that could have changed his mind. Because of this, Koba has a very narrow view of humans. The ‘all humans are evil and dangerous and must be killed’ mentality we saw in Dawn. 

He was willing to listen to Caesar and express his concerns to him but I don’t think this could have been enough to change Koba’s mind (like even if Malcolm and the humans never entered the forest, I do not think anything Caesar said or done would have convinced Koba otherwise).

Basically, the only way Koba could have changed his mind about humans was if one of them were to show him kindness. For example, what he were the one who got sick instead of Cornelia and Ellie helped him? It doesn’t have to be Ellie specifically, but something serious would have to happen to Koba and he’s put into a vulnerable state and the only one to help him is a human for him to actually see that humans aren’t all bad. 

This isn’t necessarily a solid theory because, for all we know, Koba could very likely still try to kill all humans and just spare that one who helped him but this just means it would have to be more than one human involved (like maybe a few humans and some of the apes). Even if this does happen, Koba would still have to actually chose to change and do what he can to stop the war from happening. 

Plot-wise, I do not know how something like this would have fit in the movies but I could see it easily extending into Revelations (where Koba’s followers sort of picked up with where he left off-mainly Red, Grey…(other apes who’s names I can’t remember at this moment lol). Before War was released, there was some idea of bringing Koba back (that he somehow survived his fall) which could be utilized for this as well but it all depends on how much of the original plot you want to keep or change and what actually happens to Koba.

There’s actually a really good fanfic called Dawn of War on FanFiction that explores all this beautifully. To briefly explain it with no spoilers, Koba isn’t the one who started the war but is involved (sorta) in it’s creation and has a solid redemption arc. I highly recommend it if you haven’t read it!

[kaija-rayne-author]

Bear with me here. I only started playing DA games a couple months ago, so still a huge special interest for me.

Perspective is such an interesting part of these games, and I love how they juxtapose that against current events and characters' personal goals/needs.

Let's say you're the bodyguard of someone you really respect. You fail in your job to protect. You're doing your damnedest to save people who need to be free. You're a freedom fighter, because you care, deeply.

Your protectee is murdered, but you survived. I would imagine this would be something that could piss you off.

You imprison the perpetrators in the only way you can.

Then because it was such a big magical undertaking, you pass out and slip into uthenera for thousands of years.

You wake up, a bit groggy, find out how weak you are (which, to someone who has never been lessened in power is awful) possibly panic a little and fuck up.

You see you fucked up, while dealing with some pretty massive mental illness issues (PTSD, Depression, anxiety, survivor-complex) just for starters).

The entire world feels like a bad dream. Like it felt for people seeing the alternate future.

Humanity, a species you last remember as 'beings setting up tents in mud, selling bone beads, who stank a lot' have somehow flourished and enslaved the very people (or the descendants of your people?) you gave so much to free.

I don't see how, given that, at the beginning of the game Solas could honestly feel any different.

It'd be like waking up and finding out some sort of creature you thought of as vermin (sorry human lovers, perspective here) was running the world and harming your grandkids.

And worse, because of how you imprisoned the murderers, it actually tore the world you were trying to save apart, dooming said grandkids.

Except, familiarity can breed caring as well as contempt. He learns over time, as he's repairing his strength and healing his mind, that these 'tranquils' are still actually people. If romanced, you even fall in love with one of them!

Aaaand, you're probably also (originally) a wisdom spirit with any spirit's ability to demonize. Into Pride in his particular case.

It's a miracle he's not even more stand-offish with people.

Pride can blind us to a lot of things. In many established world religions, pride is bad. It's a deadly sin in xtian mythology.

And Solas is both wisdom and pride. Two sides of the same coin.

It's warped into his very being.

His character growth arc from who he is at the beginning of the game, to who he is at the end is so well written.

I hope Dreadwolf continues his growth arc in some way. I really love growth arcs. He might even have a redemption arc.

I think it's utterly delicious when authors play with perspective like this. It's really well done with Solas.

I only wish I felt more of the other characters were as well written so I could analyze them, too. But honestly, most of them really aren't well characterized. On a professional level, I'd send them back to the author with a gentle suggestion that they do some more character development & much needed writing for them.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Note that I base all my analyses on the base game and DLCs. I haven't managed to afford the books yet. (Being poor sucks.) So there could easily be information I don't have access to. And wasn't there a show? Was that any good? (I struggle with passive entertainment like tv shows.)

[kitkatopinions]

It's so weird seeing conversations about rwby basically going like

Person A: "This character had a chance to be something better than they were made to be, they have so much potential and it was wasted, they should probably be a bigger role and/or more nuanced than they were portrayed in this show." Person Be: "Ummmm that character has never been anything more than what they are?? That character isn't important and/or isn't nuanced??? They don't matter??? So idk why you're complaining that they're 'wasted potential.'"

Like.....

It reminds me of the time that I said Yang and Blake were queercoded before they got confirmed in V9 and people got angry at me for it because "Just because they haven't kissed anyone of the same sex, verbally acknowledged their feelings or attraction to anyone of the same sex, have never gone on a date with anyone of the same sex, or are written to discuss being queer in any way doesn't mean they're queer coded, because we're meant to pick up on them being queer in their energy and how they talk to and look at each other without it being said out and out." It's like, do people just not bother to understand base concepts?

When rwde posters say things like "Ciel was wasted potential" it feels very weird to have people be like "Ciel was just a bit part in V3 who didn't get any real focus and never went anywhere." Because that's what we're complaining about. When rwde posters are like "hate canon Adam because he's a two dimensional badly written for and voice acted character who was never given much depth and then got written to be nothing but an abusive incel hate sink with whatever meager personality and nuance he had had in volume 3 left behind to make him a paper-thin nothing character just used to (badly) prop up the bees, but he could've been different and better," it feels very weird to have people be like "Um, Adam wasn't written to have a lot of depth and nuance and meaning, he's just some two dimensional jealous abusive ex who only matters to prop up the bees, he isn't better." That's what we're complaining about. When rwde posters say "the Curious Cat could've actually been a better character if he was a more nuanced morally gray character instead of just being a one-season villain," it doesn't even make sense for people to be like "why are you saying the Curious Cat could've been something more than a villain? THEY'RE JUST A VILLAIN!"

Wasted potential means that they could've been something better, but they aren't. When people complain that there's wasted potential in RWBY, we mean that there's things the writers could've done that we would've found better and/or more interesting. We don't need to be told that the writers didn't make them better or more interesting, we - we know that already.

Another thing I feel like is a common response to complaints about wasted potential that I really dislike and don't understand is when people respond to complaints about wasted potential by being like "I don't care about and/or dislike that character and therefore I don't think you're right that they could've been different or better." There are characters that I feel like don't need to have bigger roles in RWBY - like Sage and Scarlet, or Ooblek who I think served his purpose well and doesn't need more - but even people I absolutely hate like Junior and Cardin I think could've mattered to more characters or to the show's narrative more with absolutely no redemption required. Like, Cardin is wasted potential because he could've been used by the show as an example of a terrible person who shouldn't be a badge carrying law enforcement officer and who the girls could get expelled - instead of Cardin just mattering as Jaune's bully (a badly done arc anyway,) and only for like three episodes or so in season one. If I say I think there's some wasted potential with his character, I don't want to hear "He was only Jaune's bully for like episodes and never mattered again" because I know that, and I don't want to hear "But Cardin's a bad person" because yeah he is I know and I hate him, but that doesn't mean there isn't wasted potential for his role and his character.

It's just weird.

[buckleydiazmp4]

hey, you were saying that you don't think izzy should've died and that you didn't agree with his character arc for reflected upon reasons. is it okay to ask what those reasons are? you just always have interesting opinions about tv and i'd love to know about this one

oh hi! well i'm happy to share my thoughts since you asked so politely lol i just didn't share them earlier bc when there's discourse ppl act so vile sometimes

anyways. izzy hands huh. multi-faceted, complicated, very intense character. let me begin by saying the fact that david jenkins and con o'neill managed to do a total 180 on izzy in terms of how the audience reacted to him between s1 and s2 without fundamentally ruining his character is astounding!! i think the whole point of izzy has always been the fact that he's a man who tends to hold on too tight to the stuff that gives him a semblance of safety (even though that stuff is usually pretty traumatic lol) and across s2 we see him slowly loosening his grip on blackbeard. the fact that it was precisely blackbeard's brutal return that made izzy realize both him and ed were in too deep really just adds to how awesome the writing was this season.

and now, just to clarify: i didn't say i disagreed with his character arc, but with the way it was executed. as in, i think izzy's journey was perfectly well written and acted out by con (please give that man an award), and up until the finale it was actually very well executed!! it's the last plot device that i disagree with.

killing off izzy was a bold choice, and a very common way in which writers both show redemption and pull poignant reactions from the audience, which is ultimately what any show strives for!! for the audience to feel deeply about certain characters or stories. i think ppl have forgotten that and focused so much on wanting everything to be emotionally "clean" and lacking of controversy. guys!! the whole of fiction isn't supposed to cater to everyone!! that's why it's fiction!! it can be manipulated by creators and audience alike and each individual piece is supposed to be different. if you don't like emotional ups and downs in the media you consume that's understandable, but don't condemn the pieces of media that do have it. simply don't watch if you don't like it. i personally like these feelings, the ugly, and the dirty, and the unfair, and the painful, the human!!! it's part of the experience and they did it well this season.

even with that in mind though, i think death was only one of the many options through which they could've symbolized izzy finally letting go of blackbeard and the toxicity that name represented for all of them. i get how 'i wanna go' as a show of the deliberate decision izzy is making to escape from the emotional turmoil of ruthless piracy is trying to make his death seem like a way for him to rest, but. it's a pretty definitive rest and i think it wouldn't have been necessary, considering that one of the main things izzy learns this season is that you can spend years in a terrible environment but it's still never too late to pursue something softer for yourself and for the people you love. he says it, too: 'it's about belonging'.

as much as it is understandable to have wanted to take the way of the tragic and unexpected, for the sake of impact and to heighten the significance of what izzy has become this season, it would've been nice to see him stare at a long, happy future with the new family he's acquired aboard the revenge. ed let go of blackbeard without it meaning he had to renounce to the rest of his life for it, why couldn't izzy? it would've been wonderful to see all those years of life experience as a pirate reconcile with the reality that they're not dependent on isolating yourself from others. for izzy to have become captain, or even frenchie's first mate, would've been an excellent seal to his story, even leaving a future full of possibility to further explore how his character gets acquainted with his new way of looking at the world.

izzy put it that way: it is about letting go of ego for something larger. and his death can mean many things simultaneously, but it can also mean that without his ego he couldn't live. which. i do disagree with, so.

i don't know!!! i just think about it many different ways!! like in this post specifically i chose to see it under a different light than what i'm currently writing, and neither of those opinions cancel each other out; they can coexist!! that's the fun thing about fictional media interpretation!! it's also why we have devices like fanfiction and fanart and meta!! the fact that something played out in a specific way on screen doesn't mean it's set in stone as something good or bad, there are always shades of grey.

[lalasknives]

Df/df cast/df fandom unpopular opinions (more like takes):

-havan being aromantic is not something the fandom should ignore. Coming out is already something really hard but doing it publicly? That takes a lot of bravery and strength. Being queer comes with a lot of struggles no matter what, and deciding to overlook these struggles just because you want to ship luhavan is one of the most disrespectful things u can do. Even if she doesn’t have it in her bio, it doesn’t mean that she isn’t. Her romantic orientation is not for u to assume. Also shipping real ppl is weird.

-the writers not making Bose mature in any kind of way is causing Luca to not give it all out, and a slight regress in his acting talent as he’s getting older. I get that his character is supposedly written to be a parallel to jasper, but cmon now, jasper’s character was WAY more mature in season 3. It also feels like a lazy choice on the writers part. Bose could be such an interesting and unique character in the nick universe, but they are always sticking to the same ‘dumb character’ trope. It seems like the second half of s3 is going to be focusing on Bose (him being kidnapped, him supposedly saving his friends, his birthday) so MAYBE we’ll get a redemption arc but I don’t wanna get my hopes up.

-miles is such well written and never seen before character (at least on nick). I don’t know how to elaborate this statement.🤷🏻‍♀️

-it makes no sense to compare Chapa and Mika, they are totally different characters. (same with Bose and miles).

-df needs a better promo team.

-if u r still actively interacting with hdf_aep (mind you, they still haven’t apologised), I’m going to assume u are no better then them.

I can’t think of anything else rn.

[likeabxrdinflight]

What is your take on Azula's relationship with Zuko? There's a lot of talk about her rivalry with him, but I find it more intriguing to talk about their other facets, like the implication that Azula deep down actually cares about her brother.

There's this odd phenomenon that's been happening in what I'll call ATLA fandom 2.0 (the post-netflix revival) where it seems like you have to pick a side- Zuko or Azula. If you stan one, you can't stan the other. And I haven't cared for that since, frankly, those two (alongside best girl Katara) are easily my favorite characters. So I'm not all that interested in "picking sides" and I'm not all that interested in them as rivals either. That said, it's important to note that their position in opposition to each other is important to the story the show is telling.

Azula is a character in her own right, but she's also a narrative device. As an antagonist, Azula is Zuko's most direct foil. She's his dark mirror, his evil twin (narratively speaking.) So when she's on top of the world, he's hit rock bottom, and vice versa. She represents the worst of the Fire Nation and is everything he could become if he were to give into his worst instincts (again, this is all speaking symbolically, their personalities are quite different). But because of this, she had to fall for him to rise. It's very effective storytelling within the three seasons of the show. Unfortunately that meant there wasn't much room within those three seasons to showcase any more nuance in their relationship.

I'm always torn on this decision by the showrunners, because on the one hand, it's a huge part of why Zuko's story arc is as effective as it is. And all my biases aside, Zuko's arc is very effective and, for a children's show released in 2005, pretty smartly written. It gets a bit overblown by the fandom, it's a pretty basic redemption arc at the end of the day, but it's still a well executed one and I think it's dishonest to pretend it isn't. On the other hand, it came at the cost of actually developing the relationship between Azula and Zuko and, arguably, of Azula's character as a whole. She isn't allowed to have her own arc independent of Zuko because she really only exists (from a writing standpoint) to be that dark mirror. She's not Aang et al's main antagonist. She's Zuko's. She doesn't really get to do much outside that role.

All that said I do think it goes without saying that Azula cares for Zuko. I think it also goes without saying that Zuko cares for Azula too, but he's ironically worse at expressing it (within the main series at least). Because of the way the show was written, however, none of this can be explored except in supplemental material or fanworks. And supplemental material has been...lacking, I think, in that department.

There's some awesome fanworks out there that explore their dynamic, though. I really do encourage people to go back into the archives and find stuff written years ago because stuff written at the time the show was airing/right when it ended are some of the best. The show hadn't yet been lionized as much and fandom opinions of the characters hadn't yet crystallized into what they are now (and also the comics and lok didn't exist so no one had to deal with that.)