#i could go on about mercy and how her character has so much missed potential

[bixels]

What did/do you like about Pharah?

Uh, gameplay-wise, I really love characters in shooters who rely on three-dimensional movement techs. Chaining together hover and jump to stay in the air for as long as possible and keep momentum is so satisfying, and picking enemies off from the sky made me feel like a bird of prey. I was a good Pharah main.

Story-wise, there unfortunately isn't much to canonically go off because Pharah is so underutilized and neglected. Her personality's pretty boilerplate "heroic hero" (she's literally inspired by Captain America).

But it's the crumbs/bits and pieces that I really latched onto. Pharah's a confirmed lesbian; her short story with Baptiste implies she harbors a crush on Mercy (fucking thank you.). She's biracial Egyptian/First Nations. She has major mommy issues, having grown up both admiring and resenting Ana. She's the bridge between Old Overwatch, inspired by the idealized heroes who surrounded her childhood, and New Overwatch. She's one of the only inter-generational characters in the cast; someone whose experiences span the gap, which is why I seriously believe Pharah would make a great main character.

There isn't much to go off of, though; she's a very uncomplicated character (she's a soldier for a private military corporation, lol.). But that just means she's a blank slate character, so I've seen fanfic writers run wild and create some really interesting takes on her. My favorite interpretation of her's a dense, herbo gym-bro type (a lot of her liens are about work outs, exercising, and playing sports) who's easily excitable under her seemingly self-serious, armored visage. We see how she tends to gloat and hype herself up when she's on a streak too, so Pharah definitely has a competitive and boastful side under her more professional and militant performance.

Now Mercy? Mercy is a real complex character.

[marvel-starwarsfangirl]

TBB S3- some thoughts that've been on my mind

Hello friends, I've had some thoughts on some plot elements on S3 for a while and some ideas on how they could've been tweaked to work better. There's already been so much discourse; I just wanted to add my own perspective because the potential was there. And again, I wanted to see if these ideas could've worked well within the rest of the story without significant rewrites. (This is my brain trying to make sense of everything I felt missed the mark).

I also have more Tech thoughts because man, I'll never get over how he was handled.

Edit: btw, NOTHING will ever stop me from loving this show or these characters. I still think TBB is amazing and has peak SW content. I just sometimes ponder certain choices made.

Crosshair's Hand: I concur with everyone that the infamous hand chop really didn't make any sense narratively. My perspective on Crosshair's important shot wouldn't have changed if he had his hand. Crosshair overcame because he had support from his family, not because he suddenly could shoot 100% accurately again. From a shock value POV (and just straight up whump angle), the hand chop works. But that adds nothing to the narrative or significance to the characters. Crosshair could've gotten hurt in any other number of ways and the story wouldn't really change. CX-2 and his comrades still had our favorite sniper at their mercy. Crosshair was in deep trouble no matter what.

Personally, I wouldn't have taken the hand. But if we HAD to keep that part in, the only way it really would've worked was if CX-2 was either Tech or had a stronger relationship to Crosshair in general. While I think everyone would still agree the hand chop really wasn't really needed, the scene would've had a stronger impact. Another thing would to have a stronger reaction to it in general. Crosshair might be high on adrenaline, but the fact that he barely reacts to it makes the whole thing feel like it was done for shock value only. Which I'm sure wasn't the writers' initial idea. This man just went through a traumatic amputation. The least they could've done was give him a scene where he says something about it to one of his brothers.

CX-2: The whole CX subplot needed some more substance in general, but for now let's focus on our main man, CX-2. I was more under the impression that he was Crosshair's shadow than Tech, but either way, they just needed to give him more to do. Technically, he did fulfill his purpose within the story: he successfully delivered Omega to Hemlock. Then, he just dips until the finale. I think had they built up more of rivalry between him and Crosshair, there would've been more emotional weight. He gets skewered by Hunter and that's it. He cuts off Crosshair's hand because... he's petty? But Hemlock would just replace Crosshair's hand anyway. (Again, the hand chop wasn't necessary).

I don't know if it would fix anything without doing major rewrites, but I think having Crosshair and CX-2 face off again in "Point of No Return" would've helped. For example, Crosshair tries to hold him off to let Omega escape. Omega, seeing her brother in peril (as well as everyone else), chooses to give herself up. Crosshair could still chase after them to fire the tracker. I don't know if this would've helped, I'm just throwing ideas out here. At the end of the day, having CX-2 as a more established character in terms of his relationship to Crosshair would've given the entire subplot a huge boost. He is the ghost of Crosshair's future. A ghost of a permanent future. Not only that, but he was a brother turned into a monster. They didn't need to go out of there way to give him an entire episode, but some more scenes dedicated to the CX program overall would've been nice.

Tech: I already talked about my frustrations enough so I won't rehash them. However, I will share what's been on my mind concerning him and that's the why. Why didn't we get proper closure that we got for Kanan? Heck, Maul got more closure than Tech did. I almost cried watching House of the Dragon S2 premiere when one of the main characters was shown still mourning a death from S1. Tech never got any of that. So, why didn't he? I've asked myself that question plenty of times. The reasons I came up with are: time jump, soldiers, and priorities. But let's be honest, they're not the strongest reasons and don't excuse the poor handling of a beloved character. Tech deserved better period.

5 months is a quite a bit of time. For some people, 5 months is enough time to grieve. For others, it's barely time at all. Given their upbringing, Echo, Hunter, and Wrecker tried to carry on. Omega, meanwhile, doesn't come from that perspective. She reacts strongly. And with her circumstances on Tantiss, she wouldn’t really have the time to grieve properly. Crosshair adds it to the list of things he feels guilty about (that's the implication I'm getting).

Because they're all soldiers except Omega, the hug it out and cry method wasn't something we were gonna get realistically.

Their priorities also have changed too in those 5 months. Hemlock became an even more terrifying threat. He had Omega. He had Crosshair. I think in Hunter's mind, he was so focused on getting Omega back and keeping her safe that it kept him from really acknowledging Tech's death. Wrecker kinda follows along with Hunter. Crosshair is the only person who really acknowledges the true pain of losing Tech but it's only when he's pushed to his most vulnerable. I honestly expected Omega to say something about it as well. Nope.

In conclusion: everyone got so tied up in escaping Hemlock and saving Omega that they refused to acknowledge Tech?

I mean, I guess that kinda makes sense. But it doesn't make the situation any better. To make it better (other than straight up reviving him), we'd need an episode or at least an entire scene in at least one episode to talk about it. Have the characters open up or have a moment to sit and just process that it's been that long. Crosshair going "CF99 died with Tech" doesn't count. Heck, Crosshair is the one really struggling here. He'd benefit most from having good cry and hugs. Problem is, when I look back, I don't know which episode could fit a "Tech closure" scene. The best options would be "The Return," "Bad Territory," or "The Harbinger." But other plot elements kinda take over and it would require significant rewrites in order to make the Tech stuff work without feeling shoehorned in.

Ok, rant over.

[octo-in-the-mainframe]

Deltarune Stuff I Think Might Happen Before the Next Chapters Come Out (so I can say I was right)

Papyrus is the Knight. (I have a whole essay on this I just haven't edited it yet).

Gaster won't be evil, but he will be an antagonist at some point.

Gaster will probably make an appearance in Chapter 6, maybe in the Bunker.

Noelle is the angel.

Every Undertale main character will go to a Dark World, except maybe Alphys and probably Mettaton (Unless the whole town turns into a Dark World).

My reasoning is that Toriel, Asgore and Asirel are so obviously important, Toriel is already in a Dark World, Undyne is most likely coming along for the ride, and Sans and Papyrus are connected to Gaster and also Noelle and Dess through Snowdin and the weird bonus content for the Xbox version of Undertale.

Sans will die in the Weird Route, giving us an actual "No Mercy" Papyrus battle.

(I know this sounds edgy but like...Sans is the ONLY main character who doesn't die unless it's a No Mercy Route, mad sus).

Nightmare Knight will be used in some way for the Knight's theme.

Megalo Strike Back will make an appearance, possibly in whatever potential Gaster battle track we get.

Dess has more to do with the secret bosses than we think.

Dess is trapped in a NEO Dark World and/or the Depths.

The Secret Boss Soul Modes are based off the colors behind Sweet Capn' Cakes in the room where you can make them play their Jingle Bells remix.

Asriel is to Dess as Kris is to Noelle.

Gaster is 666, Chara is 999, Papyrus is 333. (I don't remember what the 3's stand for but there was a reason, or if this even matters in context to Deltarune).

Spade King will have an arc dependent on if you manage to recruit everyone, though I don't know if it will mean redemption. I've seen people get really mad at this idea and honestly? As long as it's a sensitive portrayal and has him apologize to Lancer and do better going forwards I'll be fine with it. I only really think this might be true because of how he is in Chapter 2, and that it would be weird to have the only guy actually criticizing you for your actions to be just straight up an evil guy you can ignore. Also, abusers are people too, and fandom spaces have a really hard time accepting that forgiving and growing is just as realistic as cutting the abusive person off. (shout out to @nukedimplosion for putting this into way better words than I could).

And now, for how I think the message of the game will present itself...

The game likes to tell you your choices don't matter right off the bat. I have a hard time believing the "No one can choose who they are in this world" person to be the same guy who was so nice about our "WONDERFUL CREATION," so I'm going to assume there are two different people talking to us.

I think this other person could be Dess.

Gaster, who has survived despite being shattered across space and time, Gaster, who has managed to connect with us, the real world, is ultimately someone who wants to change fate. Pushing and pushing until he gets the result he wants. I think Gaster believes that our choices mean everything. Why else would he gives us a character creator of all things?

But the other voice...

They do not believe in choices. They've been stuck in this pit of nothing, forced to keep going knowing everyone they love is living on without them. They most likely know about the secrets of this world now, having spent so long in its depths. Dess takes away the character creator, forcing you into Kris's body because she didn't get to choose. But some part of her, deep, deep down, wants to believe she still has a choice. So, she put us in someone who has even a slight chance to Find Her.

Someone who remembers the day she disappeared.

Someone who remembers the Bunker. Noelle isn't any help, no matter how much she misses her. Noelle blocks everything out. Asriel is out of town.

It has to be Kris.

It has to be.

And on the other hand, Gaster is optimistic, but some part of him realizes that this could all be for nought too. I think it would be really cool if we have an optimist desperate for freedom, and a pessimist who won't let herself believe in a way out.

(To clarify, I realize this has little to no evidence to back it up, it's just using what we DO have and filling in the blanks with the vibes I get from the characters. Like, I do genuinely believe Gaster likes us and the world of Deltarune. I don't think he's evil or anything. With the tiny bit of info we have on Dess, she seemed like a protective but fun older sister. I think she would feel ashamed for not being able to take care of Noelle while she's stuck, and after having been a very assertive person in her life, feeling hopeless when faced with the seemingly impossible to escape depths for years. Of course, I could be wrong, and she actually has some sick plans for the future or something, and Gaster could be more malicious than he seems. But who knows?)

Oh, and before I get someone asking why Papyrus would overthrow the three kings, every Knight candidate needs a reason to do this, and none of them make sense until we get more context. Another thing: all of the Knight candidates that seem possible either haven't been seen yet or are side content. (Or are Kris. And. I have so many reasons why I don't think they're the Knight. At least, not THE Knight). It's very likely that any of them could be built up in the next couple chapters.

Heck, I think we might see them in Chapter 3, curious as to why a new Dark Fountain has been opened. It would be a neat way to introduce them to the group, being in someone else's Dark World, where they're not fully in control. We would also get to see how they'd act towards the Darkeners of Kris's Dark World. We would be able to get some of their personality, without them being the main focus. At the very least, I think we'll get more hints so they will actually be a satisfying reveal with what we're given. Though, this might result in too many characters...hmm...

Anyway, I think that's it.

I might come back to this if I have more, and depending on how the 14th goes, we might have some new stuff to theorize over.

[nobodysdaydreams]

💎 fave trope to write?

🍄how do you get yourself in the mood to write?

💡what inspires your fic ideas?

🎤fave line in a fic you wrote?

Please don't feel pressure to do any/all of these!! But I wanted to give you options. I hope you are having a lovely day!!! <3

Thank you Sophie! And you even put what they mean in the ask box so I don't have to go back and reference the post. A thousand blessings upon you my friend!

💎 fave trope to write?

Oh...this is hard. There's probably a couple. I like found family, which is a little obvious given that I write fics for tmbs fandom, and I like neurodivergent head canons, which is also obvious given that I write fics for the tmbs fandom.

I also love the trope of dramatic irony and alternating POVs. I play with this idea in a lot of my fics (as you already know and will discover very very soon is a lot more prevalent in my writing than you could have imagined, but that's all I'll say about that). I do this in "Treat Them With(out) Mercy" where I switch the POV from Kate to Curtain between chapters, so as the reader you get to follow a character to get some information on what's happening, and then get the full picture and the emotions that accompany it when the POV switches. I also do this a lot in "S.O.S.", especially with characters like Milligan who is missing pieces of his memory, but I do this with others too. It's a really easy and fun thing to do there because the show left so much unanswered and gave me tools like memory erasure and unexplained backstory to work with. I'm sad the show didn't capitalize on what they had, but boy did they leave me with a lot to use, and if they're not gonna use it, then someone might as well.

Finally, maybe my number one trope is redemption arcs for villains and sympathetic villains. I enjoying writing this, though it's a hard line to write, because as much as I love the message that no one is too far gone, I also have never like lazily written redemption arcs, or more specifically, redemption arcs that act as if what the villain did never happened, even when they did objectively terrible crimes and should probably go to prison. If your argument against that is that the ex-villain in question is too powerful to be kept in prison or forced to do community service, my counterargument is that that shouldn't matter. If they're really sorry, not only should they not have a problem paying their debt to society, but they should do so willingly, in fact, they should insist on it. If they don't, then I don't believe they're actually sorry. That's one of the reasons why I love writing Garrison and Curtain's characters. You see this piece by piece in "S.O.S." where I make you empathize with them while wanting to scream at them (haha sorry about that silly me...) but for a more speedy arc you can read "It Should Have Been Us". Slight spoilers, but in the fic, Curtain wins. He has no reason to bother trying to help Nicholas or his friends, in fact he has serious apprehension about doing so in some cases, like when he acknowledges that Milligan would probably attack him if he could. But he still tries to save them, and he does it because he's sorry, and you know he's sorry because he devotes all his effort into saving them, and he even risks and ultimately caves to narcoleptic attacks at various points. Garrison also goes through a mini redemption arc. She didn't get everything she wanted like Curtain, but she still could have refused to help him. She didn't have to make Nicholas her problem. But she did, and she doesn't do it for Curtain either, she does it for his brother she's never met simply because he's a man in pain who needs her help. You see that she has empathy, you see that she wants to be better, you see that effort, that improvement, that potential. That to me is absolutely beautiful.

🍄how do you get yourself in the mood to write?

I don't. The brain bees attack when they attack and they don't leave until I've written what they demand 🐝

But for long fics like SOS that have some exposition parts that are maybe a little less exciting to write to get to the fun scenes (though people still seem to enjoy reading them) it's quite simple. All I have to do is have another big project to procrastinate on. Like I'm doing right now! Works like a charm.

💡what inspires your fic ideas?

Fictional media, hyper fixations, your awesome tumblr posts. Anything that activates the brain bees and gets them to start flooding my mind with ideas for stuff, funny or angsty lines of dialogue, potential ways unexplained characters and backstories could be connected, etc. I wish I had a better answer, but that's basically it. So as long as the bees are buzzing and I have time to indulge them, I'll be writing.

🎤fave line in a fic you wrote?

Oh there are so many. But since I ranted at you about my favorite trope, redeemable villains, how about a quote from "Who You Were Meant To Be" (Book Martina Redemption Fic):

“No,” SQ replied, “I’m being honest. They accepted my apology, and I’m friends with them now.”

“Yeah, but I’m me and you’re you.”

“What does that have to do with anything? We both worked for Mr. Curtain. We both hurt them.”

“Yeah, but it’s different. You’re… you’re nice.”

“So are you. Or maybe you could be if you wanted to be.”

“No, I couldn’t,” Martina replied. “Look, we both worked for Mr. Curtain, but it was never the same. You actually believed that what we were doing was good and right, and you never wanted to hurt anybody. I thought what we were doing would bring me success and make me happy, and I enjoyed hurting other people. You had selfless reasons, I had selfish ones. People like you get redemption and forgiveness, okay? People like me don’t. That’s just the way the world works.”

SQ paused and thought a bit about what Martina had said.

“I’m not sure that’s true,” he observed, “or at least, it can’t be true all the time. Because I forgave you.”

Martina struggled to think of something clever to say to SQ’s objection, but she couldn’t find the words. And strangely, a part of her felt like she didn’t want to find them. That for once in her life, she was actually, surprisingly, okay with losing an argument. Because she just wanted to accept what SQ was saying was true, even if she knew it wasn’t.

I loved writing SQ's response to Martina, because that is where a lot of people draw the line on forgiveness: intentionality (others might draw it a harm, how old the person was when the thing happen, etc.), but SQ just...forgives her anyway. He's not keeping score, he's not using any kind of "how deserving are you?" system. But he's also not the kind of guy who thinks redemption means a free pass no questions asked, he doesn't let Curtain hurt the kids and does think Curtain should go to jail. In the case of Martina, SQ can genuinely see that she's sorry now, and he's not going to stay bitter about it, even if, according to a lot of people, she doesn't deserve it. It's an act of friendship and love that's so perfectly encapsulates who SQ is, and it's why I love him as a character.

Thank you for the ask Sophie. I hope you have a lovely evening! 🥰

[saintofswords]

tell me abt ur scorpion boy 🔫🔫🔫

Oh wow, I'd be happy to! I'll try to post some highlights of the current adventure the group is wrapping up under the cut!

Alright, so my character is a Shosuro courtier named Maekawa Kenji. A big thing for him has been the tug of war between wanting to be a good, dutiful samurai and of being as decent of a human being as he can. As you can guess, a lot of issues have arisen during our campaign because of this. He's slowly been moving more towards the side of goodness, likely in no small part due to the influence of the Lion shugenja in our group. Said shugenja is a pretty noble samurai and an all around decent person, so he's been a great influence. A big thing for Kenji in most of the previous adventures has been balancing secretly doing the right thing (helping the commonfolk, the downtrodden, etc), while also accomplish whatever tasks the Scorpion have for him.

This conflict has all come to a head in the current adventure we are playing, in which he needed to solve an issue with a certain lord of one of the Imperial family's castles being unable to pay their taxes. The Imperial Family sent Kenji (He rescued a lost child of one of their nobles awhile back) to fix this, with no clear instructions about how to do so; he was simply told to get the castle to paying the taxes again. Upon his very first day at the castle, he learned that a coup was being planned, and set himself in alliance with one of the leaders of the coup, the Steward of the castle. Lots of social manipulating later, The big conflict between the insurgents and the lord of the castle's forces is going to occur, with Kenji having played the field the entire time, unsure of what to do, having simply pushed and pulled here and there in the hopes of pulling out as much corruption as he could.

Lost, he goes to secretly meet with the other Scorpion in the party to discuss what should be done. She believes the lord of the castle should be killed, and Kenji reluctantly agrees that it's for the best. They agree to plan more later that night. Kenji is dragged off by the rest of the party to help with something, and she heads off on her own. She often does that.

Some more things happen and we are brought in to the chambers of the castle's lord afterwards. His court shugenja has been doing a terrible job of his duties for a long time (he was in with the Steward, it was intentional sabotage), so the party's Lion is just doggedly pursuing him with evidence from our investigations, trying to get the court shugenja locked up or executed for his crimes. Kenji, wanting to keep that piece on the board, urges the lord towards mercy when the Lion is out of earshot. He's now, unbeknownst to our Lion, betrayed the trust he has for Kenji. It's not come out yet, but I think the Lion is on the cusp of potentially discovering that. Even if he doesn't though, Kenji really regrets doing that to his friend.

Fast forward to the morning, and there is an invading force outside the castle-the Steward's allies! Kenji worriedly slips away from the party and goes to check on the lord of the castle (He later realized the man was not NEARLY as bad as his reputation had suggested), only to find out from the lord's niece (his heir) that the lord of the castle and his wife were slain in the night. The other Scorpion is also missing. Kenji, worrying about where his fellow Scorpion is, and what she has or hasn't done, sets out towards the battle in hope of negotiating. This doesn't happen, and Kenji will be forced to align himself in the mass battle about to occur.

Unsure of what to do, but feeling that too much of his honor is at stake to simply abstain from fighting, Kenji looks to our Lion. He hopes the Lion will choose a side, and Kenji can follow after him. The Lion abstains, instead waiting in the castle to serve as a medic for the wounded after the battle is concluded one way or another. Kenji, feeling that he needs to do what is best for his Scorpion ally, allies with the coup. As does the ronin in our group, simply wishing to join what he thinks will be the winning side. One mass battle and the coup has succeeded, with the niece slipping out of the castle unnoticed at some point. A new daimyo is immediately installed by the lord above the castle's last lord, and she promptly has the Steward executed for being such a treacherous snake. Things seem good! The party (minus the one missing ofc), are called into to meet with the new daimyo and they advise her about the situation of things and how best to move forward. Finally dismissed for the night, after one of the longest days of his life, Kenji returns to his quarters to find a letter.

"I expected more from my friends. The way of the Scorpions is to serve the best of the empire. Putting traitors, murderers, and backstabbers at the head of power is not the best for the empire. I will see you all after [niece] and I meet with the Imperial Family. Goodbye, Kenji."

The trust of two close friends has now been lost.

We stopped at that, so I have no idea what is going to happen for my character next, but he is NOT feeling happy right now. Mission accomplished, and all he had to trade for it were two of his only true friends and comrades!

[onehundredandeleventropicalfish]

thinking again about dream’s utter reluctance to kill rose, and what that says about him

like, sure, he told himself he was keeping her alive so she’d find the missing dreams, and that was definitely useful to him, but even after she did so, he hesitates. there was absolutely no benefit to keeping her alive after that point, and he has been explicitly going against the rules this entire time in letting her power grow at all - dream, the most lawful character in this story (aside from perhaps destiny), he doesn’t even try to kill her until he gets her explicit permission.

and dream is very aware of the potential consequences here. for show fans who haven’t read the comics, when dream said he failed in his duty and an entire universe was lost? that’s actually how he got trapped by burgess in the first place - he couldn’t kill the vortex, he cared too much about her, so he let the dream spread. even once his siblings forced his hand, he didn’t finish the job, he ran away. and it kept getting bigger and bigger, until it consumed literally everything, and dream had to essentially remake the universe by taking a dream where he never made that mistake and turning it real. but the energy expended to do that drained him of so much power that it left him vulnerable to magic like burgess’ - magic that could never normally come close to touching an endless, it’s why he got dream and not death.

dream is still recovering from the last time he made this kind of mistake. but none of that knowledge is enough to override who he is as a person

i think a lot, about dream's protests here.

because for all that killing a dream vortex is explicitly a part of his duty, it also runs entirely counter to who he is

he's literally made up of every dream anyone has ever had, he exists because people dream, because they hope. like he says in his speech to john in episode 5, people need dreams to keep living. and it goes the other way round, too. because there's no way to kill a dream, no matter how shitty a situation you put a person in, they can always hope that things will change, that they will get better. but if you kill a person, that's the only way to ensure they can never dream again, the only way to permanently stop a dream. of course he can't bring himself to do so willingly, of course he's going to object to it - in order for him to even exist, he has to believe that there's always another way

and he's spent so long being punished for that mercy. which is why i love the doll's house plot, because this time, his hesitation means unity has time to figure out what's going on, and keep him from falling into desire's trap

for once, the fact that he couldn't kill someone saves his life

[flowerywhispers]

Hi :) Can I request a headcannon of Yandere (Platonic) Claude De Alger Obelia with little/older sister? Reader had escaped him for years and he accidentally found her, already married and have children(s)? Will he take his sister back? What will he do with her family?

If you feel uncomfortable,please ignore this request

Hope you have a good day today! :))

| | Platonic yandere Claude finding out his sister is still alive | |

Character(s): Claude de Alger obelia

TW: Yandere behaviour, forced move, threats for murder, murder, abuse of power

Notes: Female MC || Platonic relationship || It's been only one day and y'all already know me so well. Love me some yandere headcanons >:D || Hope you have a great day too and thank you! 💗

He feels betrayed when he finds out that you've been alive all these years. The former empress was said to have killed you when you'd run away to escape her and the potential of being sold off for a marriage and you didn't come back to him? You left him and lived your life like there was nothing wrong when he needed you the most?

No, surely not. There has to be something else to it but how he deals with any of his suspicions is entirely up to how accepting you are of what he wants to do

His first action is to move you into the palace again. He doesn't want the rest of your family to come with you but makes an exception for your children. Your partner, however, stays out. He's only just about able to trust you because he knows the you that he grew up with but even just your children being brought in is pushing it

He's your family, he doesn't see why you need them when the brother that you promised to always stay beside is right there in front of you. Do you mean to go back on your words suddenly? Do you know how grave it is to lie? And to the emperor of all people? You're already being overshadowed with the threat of death. He killed Anastacius and you knew it wasn't impossible for you to be next

The fact that he's missed you so much blinds him. Countless nights as a child where he'd cried over what he'd thought to be your death so he struggles to blame you for leaving

He doesn't want to blame you for not coming back either so he does what he can do and blames your partner. Obviously they tricked you somehow. Or someone did unless you mean to say that you stayed away from him of your own volition

He doesn't hesitate to cut your partner down first. He's merciful enough to the person that 'kept you happy' before you were reunited with him that he gives them a quick death

It's not difficult to find out what's happened and you start fearing for yourself and your children. Every time he looks at them with you you know that it acts as a silent threat to them. That if they get in the way, he will make them meet the same fate

This isn't the same brother that you grew up with and you knew it. There had been too much that had happened to him while you were gone, leaving right after Anastacius' coronation which had put him in a position where he was vulnerable while he was still grieving

You become tempted to send your children away. It isn't like he would care and you couldn’t escape if you tried. Even with your mana as a part of the Obelian royal family, you didn't compare to Claude

He has the whole empire on his side and had found you completely by accident. You could only imagine what would happen if he was looking with the intention of finding you

You didn't stand a chance against him. His power was unmatched and only reflected by his status so you were tied down like a bird in a cage

After all, it was what he saw to be the only way to keep you safe. Guards were a constant companion and his oppressive magic mixed with the dark magic that he had infused himself with followed you like a shadow

No one other than Claude save for Felix and a few select guards are permitted to see you and certainly not any nobles. You were swayed into leaving before, what's to stop someone from convincing you again? Obviously you're too naïve and trusting. That's why he had to keep you safe and keep you close. That way no one can manipulate you into leaving him again

Even with the highest levels of security that the empire could grant, under the gaze of someone who was moments away from holding you or those you cared for guilty for the fact that you had left, you were probably safer outside than you were in the palace

You feel more like a doll than a person in your tea breaks with him, robotically responding with whatever you know will appease him because his volatile nature is certainly not unknown to you

He's the emperor and you are the princess. It's clear to see who holds the power in the dynamic

Do not repost or claim. Only reblog 💗

[hamliet]

The Crows Summon the Sun

Or, Hamliet’s review of Shadow & Bone, which gets a 4.5/5 for enjoyment and a 3.5/5 in terms of writing.

The true heroes of this story and the saviors of the show are the Crows. However, the problem is that the show then has an uneven feel, because the strength of the Crows plotline highlights the weaknesses of the trilogy storyline. But imo, overall, the strengths overshadow (#punintended) the weaknesses. 

I’ll divide the review into the narrative and the technical (show stuff, social commentary), starting with narrative.

Narrative: The Good 

It’s What The Crows Deserve

I went into the show watching it for the Crows; however, knowing that their storyline was intended to be a prequel, I wasn’t terribly optimistic. And while it is a prequel, the characters have complete and full arcs that perfectly set them up for the further development they will have in the books (which I think should be the next season?). Instead of retreading the arcs they’d have in the books, which is how prequels usually go, they had perfect set up for these arcs. It’s really excellent. 

Jesper, Inej, and Kaz are all allowed to be flawed, to have serious conflicts with one another, and yet to love each other. They feel like a found family in the best of ways. Kaz is the perfect selfish rogue; he’s a much more successfully executed Byronic hero than the Darkling, actually. Inej is heroic and her faith is not mocked, yet she too is flawed and her choices are not always entirely justified, but instead left to the audience to ponder (like killing the girl), which is a more mature writing choice that I appreciated. 

Jesper is charming, has a heart of gold despite being a murderer and on the surface fairly greedy, and MILO THE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT GOAT WAS THE BEST THING EVER. I also liked Jesper’s fling with Dima but I felt it could be better used rather than merely establishing his sexuality, like if Jesper and Dima had seen each other one more time or something had come of their tryst for the plot/themes/development of Jesper. 

Nina and Matthias’s backstory being in the first season, instead of in flashbacks, really works because it automatically erases any discomfort of the implications of Nina having falsely accused Matthias that the books start with. We know Nina, we know Matthias, we know their motivations, backgrounds, and why they feel the way we do. It’ll be easy for the audience to root for them without a lot of unnecessary hate springing from misunderstanding Nina (since she’s my favorite). Matthias’s arc was also really strongly executed and satisfyingly tragic. Their plotline was a bit unfortunately disconnected from the rest of the story, but Danielle Gallagan and Callahan Skogman have absolutely sizzling chemistry so I found myself looking forward to their scenes instead of feeling distracted. Also? It’s nice seeing a woman with Nina’s body type as a romantic and powerful character. 

Hamliet Likes Malina Now

Insofar as the trilogy storyline goes, the best change the show made was Mal. He still is the same character from the books, but much more likable. The pining was... a lot (too much in episode 4, I felt) but Malina is a ship I actually enjoyed in the show while I NOTP’d it in the books. Mal has complexity and layers to his motivations (somewhat) and a likable if awkward charm. Archie Renaux was fantastic. 

Ben Barnes is the perfect Aleksandr Kirigan, and 15 year old me, who had the biggest of big crushes on Ben Barnes (first celebrity crush over a decade ago lol), was pretty damn happy lol. He’s magnificantly acted--sympathetic and terrifying, sincerely caring and yet villainous in moments. Story-wise, I think it was smart to reveal his name earlier on than in the books, because it helps with the humanization especially in a visual medium like film. Luda was a fitting (if heartbreaking) backstory, but it is also hard for me to stomach knowing what the endgame of his character is. Like... I get the X-men fallacy thing, but I hope the show gives more kindness to his character than the books did, yet I’m afraid to hold my breath. Just saying that if you employ save the cat, if you directly say you added this part (Luda) to make the character more likable (as the director did) please do not punish the audience for feeling what you intended. 

I also liked the change that made Alina half-Shu. It adds well to her arc and fits with her character, actually giving her motivations (she kinda just wants to be ordinary in a lot of ways) a much more interesting foundation than in the books. Also it’s nice not to have another knock-off Daenerys (looking to you Celaena and book!Alina). Jessie Mei Li does a good job playing Alina’s insecurities and emotions, but... 

Narrative: The Ehhhhhhh

Alina the Lamp

Sigh. Here we go. Alina has little consistent characterization. She’s almost always passive when we see her, yet she apparently punches an officer for calling her a name and this seems to be normal for her, but it doesn’t fit at all with what we know about her thus far. Contradictions are a part of humanity, but it’s never given any focus, so it comes across as inconsistent instead of a flaw or repression. 

I have no idea what Alina wants, beside that she wants to be with Mal, which is fine except I have no idea what the basis of their bond is. Even with like, other childhood friends to lovers like Ren/Nora in RWBY or Eren/Mikasa in SnK, there’s an inciting moment, a reason, that we learn very early on in their story to show us what draws them together. Alina and Mal just don’t have that. There’s the meadow/running away thing, but they were already so close, and why?  Why, exactly? What brought them together? The term “bullies” is thrown around but it isn’t ever explored and it needed to be this season. If I have to deal with intense pining for so many episodes at least give me a foundation for their devotion. You need to put this in the beginning, in the first season. You just do.

A “lamp” character is a common metaphor to describe a bad character: essentially, you could replace the character with a lamp and nothing changes. Considering Alina’s gift is light, it’s a funnily apt metaphor, but it really does apply. Her choices just don’t... matter. She could be a special lamp everyone is fighting over and almost nothing would change. The ironic thing is that everyone treating her like a fancy lamp is exactly the conflict, but it’s never delved into. We’re never shown that Alina is more than a lamp. She never has to struggle because her choices are made for her and information is gifted to her when she needs it. Not making choices protects Alina from consequences and the story gives her little incentive to change that; in fact, things tend to turn out better when she doesn’t make choices (magic stags will arrive). 

Like... let’s look at a few occasions when Alina almost or does make choices. For example, she chooses to (it seems) sleep with Kirigan, but then there’s a convenient knock at the door and Bhagra arrives with key information that changes Alina’s mind instantly despite the fact that Bhagra’s been pretty terrible to her. If you want to write a woman realizing she’s been duped by a cruel man, show her discovering it instead of having the man’s abusive mother tell her when she had absolutely no such suspicions beforehand. There’s no emotional weight there because Alina doesn’t struggle. 

When she is actually allowed to carry out a bad choice, the consequences are handwaved away instead of built into a challenge for her. Like... Alina got her friends killed. More than once. I’m not saying she’s entirely to blame for these but could we show her reacting to it? Feeling any sort of grief? She never mentions Raisa or Alexei after they’re gone, just Mal, and I’m... okay. They were there because of you. Aren’t you feeling anything? Aren’t you sad? The only time Alina brings up her friends’ deaths is to tell Kirigan he killed her friends when they were only there because she burned the maps. She yells at Kirigan for “never” giving her a choice, but she almost never makes any, so why would he? Alina has the gall to lecture Genya about choices, but she herself almost never has to make any. 

Which brings me to another complaint in general: Alina’s lack of care for everyone around her when they’re not Mal, even if they care for her. Marie dies because of her (absolutely not her fault of course) but as far as we know she never even learns about Marie. She certainly doesn’t ever ask about her or Nadia. Alina seems apathetic at best to people, certainly not compassionate or kind. 

The frustrating thing is that there is potential here. Like, it actually makes a lot of psychological sense for an orphan who has grown up losing to be reluctant to care for people outside of her orbit and that she would struggle to believe she can have any say in her destiny (ie make choices). It’s also interesting that a girl who feels like an outsider views others outside her. But the show never offers examines Alina’s psychology with any depth; it simply tells us she’s compassionate when she is demonstrably not, it tells us she makes decisions when it takes magical intervention to do so. It’s a missed opportunity. This does not change between episodes 1 and 8, despite the episodes’ parallel structures and scenes, which unintentionally reinforces that Alina had little real development. 

Inej and ironically Jesper and Kaz embody the concept of “mercy” far better and with far more complexity than Alina does. The Crows have reactions to the loss of people who even betray them (Arken, etc), learn, and course-correct (or don’t) when they are even loosely involved in having strangers die. They’re good characters because they change and learn and have their choices matter. When they kill we see them wrestle with it and what this means even if they are accustomed to doing so. Jesper can’t kill in front of a child. Kaz wonders what his killings do to Inej’s idea of him.

Narrative: The Mixed Bag

Tropes, Themes, Telling vs. Showing

So the show’s themes in the Alina storyline are a mess, as they are in the trilogy too. Tropes are a very valuable way to show your audience what you’re trying to say. They’re utilized worldwide because they resonate with people and we know what to expect from them. The Crows' storyline shows us what it wants us to learn.

Preaching tells, and unfortunately, the trilogy relies on telling/preaching against fornicationBad Boys. It’s your right to write any trope or trample any trope you want--your story--but you should at least understand what/why you are doing so. The author clearly knows enough about Jungian shadows and dark/light yin/yang symbolism to use it in the story, but then just handwaves it away as “I don’t like this” but never does so in a narratively effective way: addressing the appeal in the first place. If you really wanna deconstruct a trope, you gotta empathize with the core of the reason these tropes appeal to people (it allays deep fears that we are ourselves unlovable, through loving another person despite how beastly they can be), and address this instead of ignoring it. Show us a better way through the Fold of your story. Don’t just go around it and ignore the issue.

The trilogy offers highly simplistic themes at best--bad boy bad and good boy good, which is fine-ish for kid lit but less fine for adult complexity, which the show (more so than the books) seems to try to push despite not actually having much of it.

Alina and Mal are intended to be good, we’re told they are, but I’m not sure why beyond just that we’re told so. Alina claims the stag chose her, but in the show it’s never explained why at all. Unlike with Kaz, Inej, Jesper, and hell even Matthias and Nina, we don’t see Alina or Mal’s complex choices and internal wrestling. 

Like, Inej’s half-episode where she almost killed the guy they needed was far more character exploration than Alina has the entire show, to say nothing of Inej’s later killing which not only makes her leaps and bounds more interesting, but ironically cements her as a far more compelling and yes, likable, heroine than Alina. We see Inej’s emotional and moral conflict. We can relate to her. We see Kaz struggling with his selfishness and regrets, with his understanding of himself through his interactions with and observations of Inej, Alina, the Darkling, Arken, and Jesper.

We don’t explore what makes Mal or Alina good and what makes them bad. We don’t know what Alina discovers about herself, what her power means for her. We are told they are good, we are told she knows her power is hers, but never shown what this means or what this costs them/her. Their opportunities to be good are handed to them (the stag, Bhagra) instead of given to them as a challenge in which they risk things, in which doing good or making a merciful choice costs them. Alina gets to preach about choices without ever making any; Inej risks going back to the Menagerie to trust Kaz. Her choices risk. They cost. They matter and direct her storyline and her arc, and those of the people around her.

Production Stuff:

The Good: 

The production overall is quite excellent. The costumes, pacing, acting, and cinematography (for example, one of the earliest scenes between the Darkling and Alina has Alina with her back to the light, face covered in his shadow, while the Darkling’s face is light up by her light even if he stands in the shadows) are top-notch. The soundtrack as well is incredible and emphasizes the scenes playing. The actors have great chemistry together, friend chemistry and romantic when necessary (Mal and Alina, the Darkling and Alina, Kaz and Inej, Nina and Matthias, David and Genya, etc.) All are perfectly cast. 

The Uncomfortable Technicalities Hamliet Wants to Bitch About:

The only characters from fantasy!Europe having any trace of an accent reminiscent of said fantasy country's real-world equivalent are antagonists like Druskelle (Scandinavia) and Pekka (Ireland). When the heroes mostly have British accents despite being from fantasy Russia and Holland, it is certainly A Choice to have the Irish accent emphasized. The actor is British by the way, so I presume he purposely put on an Irish accent. I'm sure no one even considered the potential implications of this but it is A Look nonetheless.

The Anachronisms Hamliet Has a Pet Peeve About: 

The worldbuilding is compelling, but the only blight on the worldbuilding within the story itself (ignoring context) was that there are some anachronisms that took me out of the story, particularly in the first episode where “would you like to share with the class” and “saved by the horn” are both used. Both are modern-day idioms in English that just don’t fit, especially the latter. The last episode uses “the friends we made along the way.” There are other modern idioms as well.

IT’S STARKOVA and Other Pet Peeves Around the Russian Portrayal 

Russian names are not hard, and Russian naming systems are very, very easy to learn. I could have waved “Starkov” not being “Starkova,” “Nazyalensky” not being “Nazyalenskaya,”  and “Safin” not being “Safina” as an American interpretation (since in America, the names do not femininize). However, “Mozorova” as a man is unfathomable and suggests to me the author just doesn’t understand how names work, which is a bit... uh okay considering a simple google search gets you to understand Russian names. They aren’t hard. I cannot understand why the show did not fix this. It is so simple to fix and would be a major way to help the story’s overall... caricature of Russia. 

Speaking of that... Ravka is supposedly Russian-based, but it is more accurately based on the stereotypes of what Americans think of Russia. Amerussia? Russica? Not great. 

The royals are exactly what Americans think of the Romanovs, right down to the “greasy” “spiritual advisor” who is clearly Rasputin and which ignores the Romanov history, very real tragedy, and the reason Rasputin was present in the court. The religion with all its saints is a vapid reflection of Russian Orthodoxy. The military portrayal with its lotteries and brutality and war is how the US views the Russian military. The emphasis on orphans, constant starvation, classification, and children being ripped from their homes to serve the government is a classic US understanding of USSR communism right down to the USSR having weapons of destruction the rest of the world fears (Grisha). Not trying to defend the Soviet Union here at all, but it is simplistic and reductive and probably done unconsciously but still ehhhh. 

However, I’m not Russian. I just studied Russian literature. I’ve seen very little by way of discussion of this topic online, but what I do see from Russian people has been mixed--some mind, some don’t. The reality is that I actually don’t really mind this because it’s fantasy, though I see why some do. I'm not like CANCEL THIS. So why am I talking about this beyond just having a pet peeve?

Well, because it is a valid critique, and because it doesn’t occur in a vacuum. The Grishaverse is heralded as an almost paragon for woke Young Adult literature, which underlines itself what so frustrates me about how literary circles discuss issues of diversity and culture. Such praise, while ignoring its quasi-caricature of Russia, reflects a very ethnocentric (specifically American) understanding of culture, appropriation, and representation. All stories are products of their culture to various extents, but it bothers me on principle what the lit community reacts (and overreacts sometimes?) to and what people give a pass to. The answer to what the community reacts to and what it gives a pass always pivots on how palatable the appropriation is to American understandings and sensibilities. There’s nuance here as well, though. 

I'm not cancelling the story or thinking it should be harshly attacked for this, but it is something that can be discussed and imo should be far more often--but with the nuance it begs, instead of black/white. But that’s a tall ask. 

[kuekyuuq]

I have to ask...

Where do the anti-supercorp people get the idea from that Lena Luthor is xenophobic?

Are we watching the same show?

I can see how one does not like Lena.

I can see how some of Lena's actions can be considered irredeemable.

I can see that her family was/is xenophobic.

I can agree she made some horrible mistakes in judgement.

Canon told us:

Lena was fired by Lex from LuthorCorp because he thought her naive about her pro-alien stance. The same brother who analysed Lena since she was four. 

Lena was horrified when Lex tied her to a chair and made her watch his attempt to kill Superman by turning the sun red

Lena came to National City in hopes to work with Supergirl (an alien)

Lena actively re-branded LutherCorp to LCorp to get rid of the anti-alien stuff and everything else people connected with the Luthor name

Yes, Lena created an alien-detector, but her intention was one out of ignorance (of the backlash this could cause), not of hate - when Kara much later explains the potential bad the item could cause, Lena is very much listening

Lena helps Kara on several occasions, using her intel and providing it to Kara, so Kara can investigate and write articles to dismantle anti-alien organisations (e.g. Veronica Sinclair's fight club, Cadmus)

Lena helps Supergirl on several occasions, using her intel and providing it to Supergirl, so Supergirl can dismantle anti-alien organisations

Lena actively seeks to dismantle Cadmus - the anti-alien group - even before Lena started suspecting Lillian to be involved

Lena schemes against Lillian to use Medusa to kill all aliens on Earth

Lena testified both against her alien-hating mother and brother

As soon Lillian told Lena about Lex' former facilities, she starts looking into them - they are well hidden, so it does take her a while (and by this date in the show, she may still not have unearthed all of them) - and dismantles many of them / continues to give Kara/Supergirl information about them (e.g. when Kara asks Lena for tech to find missing aliens, Lena offers to look into L-Corp (= former LutherCorp) database to search for anything useful for that particular cause

Lena encourages Kara strongly to find a way to warn all aliens about the alien registration manifest being leaked - she inspired Kara to "blob"

When Lillian finds out Lena is pro-alien and helping find the abducted aliens, she has her goons try to scare her off ("nothing permanent" - the goons accidentally threw Lena off her balcony...) - even her own family sees how non-xenophobic Lena is

Lena sacrifices Jack (her former boyfriend and still potential romantically involved one) to save Supergirl (the alien) - and (rightfully) blames the human woman, who controlled Jack, for it

When Lena suspects and confirms Rhea to be an alien, she cuts ties with her - because Rhea lied to her, not because she's an alien

Lena starts working with Rhea (confirmed alien) again - to help aliens who "weren't as lucky" as Rhea's people and to further and better Earth technologies; reduce environmental damages by infrastructure / good transports / traffic.... only to be betrayed by Rhea.

Lena learns Mon-El, Kara's boyfriend, was Daxamite and has zero issues about it

Lena has no issue with Sam being half-alien, but with the Reign-half being a huge menace to Earth, so tries to stop her and save Sam

The DEO kept Kryptonite in case any of the Supers went rogue - like Batman and Oliver Queen kept theirs - Lena kept and created Kryptonite and Harun-El to ...cure cancer; to fight against sicknesses, to use as a clean energy-source, to... do good things

...yes, she lied about it. But, her not-so-wrong reasoning was "if I tell, they will take it away. If they take it away, I won't be able to do good with it."

Lena rather had Supergirl drop her than chemicals that could have harmed thousands (human and alien)

Lena becomes quick allies and friends with Brainy (admitably, in many ways he's more AI than alien...) and befriends Nia later on, too

What else does Lena do with her stash of Kryptonite and the knowledge she gained from it? When Mercy & Otis Graves irradiate Earth's atmosphere with Kryptonite, Lena already has created an anti-Kryptonite suit for Supergirl and the fact it’s already at hand saves Supergirl’s life!

That's only up to season four... 

Yes, Lena did shitty stuff in season five. Arguably, for the right reasons, but ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’...  But were any of those things xenophobic?

The problem she has with Kara in season five is NOT because she’s an alien - but because she felt betrayed, personally. Rightfully so? Eeeeeeeh.... while it surely must have hurt to learn your best friend lied to you and played two personalities, at times taking advantage of it, too - which, let’s be honest, Kara did - Kara did have her reasons (initially), it IS selfish for Lena to assume the worst and take the fact itself so personally.  But, everybody lives in their own world, I am sure - dear few readers, who took it upon yourselves to read this monster of a post - we can agree, that we all judge the world and others based on our own perceived reality, based on our own experiences, emotions and circumstance, whether we try to be better than that or not...  I’d even make the argument, Lena is more upset with her intimate friend “Kara” (whom she shared her most intimate thoughts and feelings with) having lied to her, than with “Supergirl” taking advantage of her. Being played, Lena can deal with, but trusting and seeing that trust shattered... low blow. Please, correct me if I’m wrong, but to my knowledge, the only time Lena uses Kara being an alien against her, is when she uses and reworks the Fortress of Solitude's already existing settings to trap Kara in there for long enough for herself to get a head-start on getting Myriad to work (how else was she supposed to achieve that?).  Myriad, which she wanted to use to STOP hate, including racism (xeno-cism?). Brainwashing everyone is most certainly a veeeeeeery misguided approach, but the premise of ending all hate and the resulting pain is very much like the notion of "praying for world peace" - just that Lena got sick of praying and decided to actually go ahead and do something about it ((again: notion good; (attempted) execution horrifying)).

Even Lena trapping Malefic was to that very end. She trapped Eve (human) as well on that line of thought. At the least, she offered Malefic a deal to his liking as payment...? Eve on the other hand.... 

If anything, Lena is people-phobic. She has a hard time trusting anyone, remains suspicious to a fault. ...she did effectively kill Eve on Earth-38, though, by over-writing her with Hope.

Kara forgave her aunt, who came just as close, wanting to use Myriad for very similar purposes - and then forgave Lena, eventually, just as much. The difference being, Astra died. We never got to see if Astra would have actually stopped her plan, convinced Non, and/or would have aimed / worked hard to redeem herself...

In the same episode, where Lena's attempts with Myriad failed (and Hope took the fall) Malefic, who had tried to murder multiple people as part of his revenge against his brother (and had targeted Kelly for a while, too) was set free by J'onn and sent to Mars to do good there.

The whole of National City forgave Supergirl (and her potential for going bad and for her causing actual destruction) only a week after the redK incident...

All that said:

1) Lena lied to Kara and played her. Sure, Lena felt betrayed and from her point of view, with her set of experiences and her own preexisting many traumas and (very bad) coping mechanisms, it was... well, understandable... or at least traceable. But, forgivable? That's ultimately up for her victim (Kara) to decide. And, apparently, she does forgive her. Not easily. But she does; understands both sides, evaluates, listens to others, observes the remorse, and makes her own decision / judgement... which is (initially, tentative) forgiveness.

2) The show is REALLY BAD at dealing with characters' actions’ or events' consequences. Period. There is no real consistency, 'cept that things don't have real repercussions. That is how the writers decided to write the show from season one on. If the writers think Kara forgives Lena and show it, then that's that.

3) Every time I read the notion that Lena was/is xenophobic, I can't help but wonder if anyone who claims such even watched the show.

4) Lena is not her brother. She's flawed. She makes mistakes. But for once, Lena and her character are suffering the consequences. That may not enough for the liking of Lena Luthor haters, or anti-Supercorp taggers, but it is what it is - and it is much more than most any actual bad guy had to suffer through. Bad guys with evil intentions, (mass) murderers, people (alien and human) that rationally caused lasting harm and/or trauma to their victims.

5) Lena is not xenophobic.

Kue out.

[gingerthesnap]

The illusion of choice - a Hadestown rant.

Disclaimer - parts of this rant mention sexual violence. There are parts where I deliberately imagine the worst possible intentions/outcome to drive home a point, and I try to clarify at the end that these situations could have been much more innocent than I portrayed. I am very mean to Hades in this. At the end, I cut him some slack, but if you’re a Hades-stan or whatever, maybe don’t read this? Or at least give me the benefit of the doubt: he’s a cool character, I’m just really mad at him right now, for reasons that are somewhat valid.

I really hate the interpretation that Hadestown is about a failure of willpower on the part of Orpheus and Eurydice, when in fact, I think it’s about how systems create the illusion of choice, when in fact there is none. So often, we hear that “anyone can succeed in America if they just try hard enough”, and this narrative leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of anyone who faces much more barriers to success than someone in luckier circumstances. Hearing that Orpheus and Eurydice “could’ve had a happy ending if Orpheus just hadn’t looked back” or “if Eurydice had just turned Hades away, nothing bad would’ve happened” makes me angry, because while true, I think these takes completely miss the point of the entire musical.

Let’s look first at Eurydice. Her entire life has been spent struggling to survive in a wasteland that Hades created. He polluted the earth with his industry and his discord with his wife threw the seasons out of balance. To be fair, part of the whole “no spring or fall” thing is not Hades’ fault directly, but he DOES pick Persephone up early/send her back late. In “Way Down Hadestown”, he sees Eurydice and stares at her inappropriately. Even head-in-the-clouds Orpheus realizes that he’s creeping on her, and so he steps in front of her. Then, Hades sees Eurydice again, at her lowest point. She has been robbed, and while it’s unclear, she’s likely hypothermic and half-starved to death. She’s lost in the woods, dying. Hades offers to save her life, IF she agrees to work for him forever, AND it’s heavily implied that he’s also asking for sexual favors. Eurydice does not reciprocate these feelings. She is silent as he approaches, just as she was silent when he stared at her earlier. She’s cold and starving and scared. She does not want to go with him. Eurydice has no sexual or romantic interest in Hades, she literally sings an entire song about how she loves Orpheus, but she’s starving and doesn’t want to die. Eurydice makes it abundantly clear that she does not want to go with Hades. But she is literally going to die if she does not.

Just imagine this, imagine if you had been struggling to survive in a wasteland your whole life, BECAUSE some rich idiot is actively ruining the climate by building some technological hell-scape, through the use of slave labor (or indentured servitude whatever you wanna call it). Your sweet husband is writing a magic song to convince the rich idiot to stop ruining everything, so you go out to get food and firewood for you both. A storm hits while you’re out, and suddenly you have nothing, alone in the snow. And then the rich idiot finds you, and tells you that if you’d like to not die, you can sleep with him and work in his factory for the rest of your life. Like that’s a mercy. When Hades finds Eurydice, the right thing to do would’ve been to take her home. When you find someone who is lost and dying, you don’t take advantage of them, you fucking help them. Can you imagine if like, avalanche rescue crews told people they wouldn’t dig them out of the snow unless they agreed to be indebted to them for life? That’d be disgusting. And then, imagine if those avalanche rescue crews created the fucking avalanche, then had the audacity to go around, offering people respite if they sell themselves away.

Eurydice was exploited, essentially kidnapped, and potentially raped. That’s all BEFORE she signs the fucking papers.

Now let’s talk about Orpheus. He’s a kind boy who loves Eurydice and wants to help the world. He has a gift, and instead of using it for his own gain, he uses it to help others. He could incite a riot in Hadestown, he could try to use his gift to trick Hades, or exploit people to better his lot in life, but he doesn’t. Despite everything Hades has done, Orpheus sees the humanity in him. Orpheus sees that he and Persephone have fallen out of love, and he wants to help them regain what they’ve lost. Orpheus wants to help Hades, because he believes that if he does so, Hades will take the next step, and help the world. Orpheus loses himself as he strives towards this goal, and he doesn’t realize his wife needs help until it’s too late. Eurydice goes out on her own to find food, by choice. Their marriage is a partnership - she’s okay with him working on his song, because she knows it can save the world. She only calls out for help when she’s lost and dying. She is stolen by the man Orpheus has sacrificed everything to try and help.

Orpheus loves Eurydice, so he goes to get her back. That’s all he wants. He just wants to find Eurydice and bring her back home. Although he doesn’t know everything that happened, think about how fucking sad this is for one second. While Orpheus was distracted writing a song to save Hades’ marriage, Hades came across Orpheus’ dying wife, and offered to save her life if she agreed to become an indentured servant. When Orpheus arrives, Hades sics his workers on him. Orpheus’ wife is stolen, exploited, and potentially assaulted/raped by Hades. Orpheus is beaten. And he doesn’t want vengeance. He just wants to take Eurydice home. He still wants to help Hades, and he DOES. He sings his song, under threat of death, and it reignites the love Hades and Persephone have lost. He shows Hades that he doesn’t NEED Hadestown to keep Persephone by his side. She loves him, not what he’s built, and Hades' crimes against humanity are hurting their relationship. And in return, all Orpheus wants is to take his wife home.

Yet Hades has the fucking audacity to hate Orpheus, after this. He sings his whole little song, about how afraid he is his workers will leave him, despite the fact that Orpheus has shown him he does not NEED them to be happy. He cannot claim ignorance. He’s fueled by pride, jealousy, and greed, and he can’t let go of them for one fucking second to give these kids a shred of human decency. He creates a term he KNOWS Orpheus can’t meet, because it is something Hades himself has not been able to do. If you compare Orpheus’ trial to Hades’ trusting Persephone to return, you realize that Hades has metaphorically “looked back” quite often. At the beginning of the show, he drops Persephone off LATE and picks her up EARLY. Hades has been “looking back” for years now. The line “it’s time for spring” in Wait for Me (Reprise) is Hades’ attempt to stop this pattern, to stop looking back, because it’s unclear if he’s ever succeeded in doing so. And if Hades fails, he has little to no consequence. He won’t lose Persephone if he comes early, or drops her off late. She’ll just be grumpy, and that’s it.

And Orpheus looks back, and he loses Eurydice. And Hades has the audacity to say this was fair. Orpheus was scared and tired and hurt, and he still did a better job than Hades did. The parallel of Hades riding a train, while Orpheus has to walk on the tracks, is so good, like. It’s the same “journey” but the two experiences are vastly different, with one much, much easier than the other. I’m writing an essay for class now about how this compares to the experiences of disadvantaged people trying to succeed in America. It’s not fair. No one should ever fucking pretend it’s fair. Orpheus and Eurydice are victims, and Hades is a bastard.

An afternote, somewhat defending Hades. I don’t hate him as a character. He’s a compelling, layered guy, and I don’t think he intended to do half the things he did. He didn’t mean to make the wasteland worse, it was an act of apathy, not malice. He didn’t connect the terrible conditions to his actions, and I think he views himself as fair. I talk a lot about him potentially assaulting Eurydice, and I wanna acknowledge that’s the worst case scenario. It’s completely possible that he was just a little creepy/flirtatious, and that’s it. The issue with Hades is that it doesn’t matter if he meant to do terrible things. Because of the power he holds, his actions have consequences that affect thousands of people (or millions, IDK how big this world is). What would be redeemable flaws in a different character become literal crimes against humanity, because of Hades’ position in society. I think part of the message of the musical is that no one should have that much power. What happened is not entirely Hades' fault, and again, I do not think he’s necessarily a bad person. However, even in the best circumstances, even if he had the purest of intentions, Hades has done terrible things. Hades is afraid to relinquish the power he holds, and it is this doubt that dooms Orpheus and Eurydice.

[aspoonofsugar]

Semblance of the Soul: Qrow and Raven

The Branwens are two people with a shared past, that have taken different routes in life:

Ozpin: Everyone has a choice. The Branwens chose to accept their powers and the responsibilities that came with them. And later, one of them chose to abandon her duties in favor of her own self-interest.

Qrow has made an altruistic choice. He hates the crimes of his tribe and is happy to help people by working for Ozpin.

Raven has instead decided to prioritize herself and her tribe and sees Ozpin’s cause as foolish and reckless.

At the same time, they are twins, but have chosen different families. This is why the concept of family comes up so often in their interactions. After all, they first meet in the episode called Family:

Raven: Hello, brother.

Qrow: Raven. So, what do you want?

Raven: A girl can't just catch up with her family?

And their last exchange is this:

Raven: Sorry, brother. Sometimes family disappoints you like that.

Qrow: We're not family anymore.

Raven: Were we ever?

Qrow: I thought so, but I guess I was wrong.

Still, how are they doing with their families of choice? Are they happy with them? Do they have healthy relationships?

For the both of them, the answer is no. This happens because Raven and Qrow are both scared to grow close to people.

It is just that this fear is declined in opposite ways. Raven is scared for herself (selfishness), while Qrow is scared for others (selflessness).

This trait they share, but show in different ways, is well conveyed by their respective semblances. This analysis will use their powers as means to explore both characters and their foiling.

RAVEN: BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Raven’s Kindred Link perfectly embodies the saying...

Birds of a feather flock together...

...until the cat comes:

Raven: I...I'm sorry...

On one hand it lets her create portals to the people she has a strong bond with.

On the other hand she mostly uses it to run away from those bonds.

Why does she do it?

The answer is clear:

Lionheart: I'm helping her for the same reason you are - I'm afraid. We... we can't stop her... no one can...

Raven is just another version of the Cowardly Lion. She is a coward like Leo, but does not aknowledge it and prefers to hide behind a pragmatic and survivalist mask:

Raven: That's why I tried to leave when I did. I'm not afraid, I'm smart.

This is why she goes back to her tribe after she leaves Yang and Tai. She says she does so because she considers them her family and wants to protect them.

However, her motivations are implied to be more selfish. She goes to them to run away from things that scare her.

To be more specific, the tribe protects Raven psychologically in two different ways.

1) It lets her be the monster, the criminal, the most violent and powerful one:

Mercury: We’re the guys you should be afraid of.

Raven: I doubt anyone should be afraid of you.

Here, Raven mocks Mercury, but the irony is that her coping mechanism is really not that much different from his. She hides behind a Grimm mask, a universal symbol of fear, but she is the scared one.

2) She goes back to the family who raised her and neglects the family she is supposed to raise (Yang).

Deep down, Raven is just an adult, who fails at being an adult.

Mostly, this shows in her inability to make a choice:

Yang: Which is it, mom? Are you merciful, or are you a survivor?

 As a matter of fact she keeps changing her mind because she is not brave enough to stick to one decision.

Initially, she is sent to Beacon, so that she could learn how to kill hunters. However, she ends up becoming a huntress herself and she accepts to fight Salem. She is considered so loyal that she is even given magical powers. Finally, she enters a relationship and has a daughter with Tai. She basically starts creating a life outside the tribe, only to leave it all behind at a certain point. It is not clear if it is because she saw something specific or if it is the result of a longer struggle.

The point is that nobody forced her to fight Salem. She could have also refused Ozpin’s powers. Finally, she could have told Ozpin and the others she wanted to stop. In any case, she did not have to leave her family to stop fighting Salem. What is more, she could have brought her family with her, when she ran away.

She chooses instead to leave everything she has built behind and goes back to the world she was a child in. It might be a violent world, but she sees it as safer.

Let’s highlight that she has the same tendency of changing idea in the series itself. She switches sides and organizes a risky plan, which puts almost all her major bonds (Qrow, Vernal and Yang) in danger. She does all that because she wants the relic, so that she has leverage against Salem. After all of this, even after Vernal’s death, she simply runs away. She is obviously shaken by her confrontation with Yang, who calls her out. However, Yang is perfectly right when she says so:

Yang: Because you're afraid of Salem!!! And if you thought having Maiden powers put a target on your back, imagine what she'll do when she finds out you have a Relic. She'll come after you with everything she has. Or she can come after me. And I'll be standing there, waiting for her.

Taking the relic would just put Raven in danger. For her it is safer to open the vault and disappear, so that someone else can take care of things. Even if this someone else is her daughter.

In other words, Raven is a failure of a mother. This is shown by her failing all three of her “daughters” (Yang, the Spring Maiden and Vernal). Moreover, it is perfectly conveyed by her being a Maiden.

The idea of maidenhood is symbolically juxtaposed to the one of motherhood. Of course, this does not have to be true in-universe for all the Maidens. Still, in Raven’s case, this juxtaposition is deliberate. Raven is an eternal Maiden, who runs away from her parental responsibilities.

This is why she received the power from her protegee instead than from a mentor figure. She is so selfish she takes from the people she should protect:

Cinder: Vernal was a decoy the whole time. The last Spring Maiden must've trusted you a great deal before she died. I bet that was a mistake...

What is more, it is strongly implied she killed the previous Maiden to take her powers. This is interesting because it ties to a second meaning of her semblance.

Her ability symbolizes the unfairness of the bonds she forges. She works to create those bonds and there is affection involved. However, these bonds are double edged swords for the other party involved because of Raven’s moodiness. She can leave when she wants and come back out of the blue. She can always go to others when she needs it, while others can never reach her. This leads to an unbalanced dynamic in Raven’s favour.

This dynamic can even become extremely dangerous for the other person:

Raven can potentially use her ability to attack the people she is bonded with. She does not use her semblance this way in the series. Still, what happened to the Spring Maiden is something similar. To receive the power of the Maiden, Raven must have been the last person in the girl’s thoughts before death. This probably happened because the two shared a close bond. A bond Raven betrayed.

In other words, the nature of Raven’s semblance hides in itself the potential of betrayal:

Raven: Aura can't protect your arm, it's Grimm. You turned yourself into a monster just for power.

Cinder: Look who's talking...

As Cinder points out, Raven too, like her, has become a monster to obtain power. The difference here is in how this montrosity is conveyed.

In Cinder’s case, she is literally turning into a Grimm. She has accepted this metamorphosis to take the Maidens’ powers.

In Raven’s case, it is ironically the opposite symbolically. She wears a Grimm mask, but the true monstrosity is the Maiden behind it:

Raven is monster-like because she stole the power from a person, who trusted her.

Let’s highlight that the motif of the Grimm mask has come up several times in the series. So far, it has been used by people, like Raven and Adam, who want to be feared. Something similar can be seen in the Hound as well, who is not really wearing a mask, but whose humanity is hidden behind his Grimm appearance.

In all three cases, the true scary thing is what is behind the Grimm-face:

It is always the humanity behind it that is scary. Be it the victim behind the monster in the Hound, society’s mistreatment of Faunus or Raven’s cowardice and what it led her to do:

Yang: You're right. I don't know you. I only know the Raven dad told me about. She was troubled, and complicated, but she fought for what she believed in, whether it was her team or her tribe! Did you kill her too?

Yang’s question is poignant and underlines how all Raven has done is simply to hurt herself. By hurting the people she loves, she has been killing a part of herself.

This is also conveyed by her emblem missing from her possessions. According to the wiki, Raven’s emblem is this:

Raven's emblem is a winged eye with a clock inside of it. This emblem has not appeared on any of her possessions so far.

This is a reference to Raven and Qrow’s allusion to  Hugin and Munin, Odin’s two ravens, who travel the world and bring him information. Raven and Qrow do the same for Ozpin and they are his eyes.

Qrow is the left eye:

Salem: The last eye is blinded... you disappoint me.

While Raven used to be the right. So, her emblem is probably the right version of Qrow’s own one. Still, Raven refuses that part of herself and this is why she is not wearing her emblem.

In short, Raven used to be a bird of a feather with Qrow, but she is not flocking together with him anymore. This is because a scary cat has come:

And Raven has sacrificed her bonds out of fear. Not only that, but she has weaponized them:

Yang:  You turn your back on people, you run away when things get too hard, you put others in harm's way instead of yourself!!

Raven has been using her most loved people as assets, so that she can shield herself from danger. Maybe it is because of this that she symbolically uses Omen to open portals. This even if she can apparently do so without it, since she opens them even as a bird. However, using her sword is a way to distance herself from the true nature of her ability (bonds). It is a way to reduce her ties with people to simple things she can use.

That said, this is damaging Raven herself.

To be more specific, she is making herself weaker and weaker:

Yang: Oh, shut up!! You don't know the first thing about strength! (...) You might be powerful, but that doesn't make you strong.

Raven is powerful, but weak. This weakness is symbolically conveyed by her behaving in the opposite way her semblance would need to truly shine.

Raven’s power works thanks to bonds, so it can be assumed it would be at its strongest if its user cultivated them both in quality and in numbers. However, Raven has few bonds and she is cutting them off one by one:

Yang: You can bond to certain people. And when you do, you could create a portal that takes you straight to them. You've got one for Dad. One for me. And you've got one for Qrow.

We know that Raven is also bonded with Vernal. Still, Vernal dies at the end of volume 5. Of the other ones Yang mentions, Raven has pushed away both Qrow and Yang through her actions at Heaven.

This makes this scene interesting:

Did the portal Raven opened at Heaven go to Tai? Did she go there because she felt nostalgic and missed him? Or is he the only one (both practically and symbolically) she can still run to?

QROW: A SCARE-QROW SCARED OF CROWS

Qrow’s semblance is Misfortune and it is basically a Bad Luck Charm:

I am no one's blessing I'll just bring you harm I'm a cursed black cat I'm an albatross I'm a mirror broken Sad to say I'm your bad luck charm

Qrow causes bad luck around himself. Because of this, he sees himself as a curse.

However, this conflict Qrow has with his semblance is actually symbolic of a turmoil developed on multiple levels.

Let’s begin with this:

Raven: You're the one who left. The tribe raised us, and you turned your back on them.

Qrow: They were killers and thieves.

Raven: They were your family.

Qrow: You have a very skewed perception of that word.

Qrow was born in a tribe of bandits and was taught how to kill and steal. Finally he was sent to a hunter academy, so that he could learn how to kill his classmates in the near future.

Qrow’s semblance is nothing, but the manifestation of his self-hate, that was probably partly caused by the environment he was born in. In a sense, it is his symbolical response to his childhood.

Let’s highlight that this response is very different from Raven’s. This is shown by their opposite behaviours toward their tribe. Qrow leaves it, while Raven goes back to it.

This difference can also be conveyed by how both Raven and Qrow share a specific motif, but embody it in different ways.

Both twins are associated with bad luck. Both can turn into ravens/crows, which are birds linked to misfortune. Moreover, their weapons are called respectively Omen (Raven’s) and Harbinger (Qrow’s).

The meaning is clear. The twins were born and raised with the idea that they should be symbols of violence and bad luck for their enemies. It is just that Raven wants to be a bad omen because it makes her feel strong. Qrow does not want it, but thinks he is:

I'm a harbinger, I cannot lie, I will change the color of your life.

It is to try and free himself from this curse that Qrow started working for Ozpin. He literally becomes the Scarecrow of the story to try and exorcise the bad fortune he brings. He is trying to scare the crows away. He thinks that if he does so, he’ll become a full person.

This ties with the original story of his allusion. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Scarecrow wants a brain because he is told by an old crow he would be just like a real man, if only he had one. In short, the Scarecrow wants a brain to become a real man, so that he can scare crows better than he already does.

Qrow too wants to be a full person, but he believes he is not. He thinks he is cursed and as a reaction to this he has attached himself to Ozpin and to his cause:

Qrow: No one wanted me... I was cursed... I gave my life to you because you gave me a place in this world... I thought I was finally doing some good...

This is why he reacts so badly when he discovers that Ozpin (who is basically a father figure for Qrow) has hidden so many things from him. Not only that, but he feels that the impossibility of truly defeating Salem (of truly defeating evilness) makes his life meaningless.

The point is of course that this is not the case and that Qrow does not need to do anything specific to be a true person and to be loved:

Qrow: Every choice I've ever made has led me here, and I've dragged you along with me. Oz, myself, the others... We're responsible for the mess the world's in now. I shouldn't have come, shouldn't have let any of you come... What was I thinking?!

Ruby: We're all in this together, and we're all going to do the best we can. That's all anyone can do. And I know it's what you've always aimed for. We would've come whether or not you'd let us, so stop talking like we're your responsibility! We're not! But we could still use Qrow Branwen on our side.

Ruby’s confrontation with Qrow at the end of volume 6 is basically the opposite of Yang’s confrontation with Raven in the finale of volume 5.

Yang calls Raven out because she refuses her responsibilities. She pushes them on others and leaves her own daughter to fight a battle she ran away from.

Ruby calls Qrow out on taking too much responsibility on himself. The kids were not forced by him to come. Qrow should not be completely responsible for them, but should learn to fight by their side.

Later on, Qrow is basically told the same by Maria:

Maria: You weren't half bad yourself today, Qrow.

Qrow: I feel like they did all the heavy lifting.

Maria: But you were there to help when they asked for it, and you were there to catch them when they fell. Literally, if I recall.

This is important because Maria appears just after Ozpin (aka Qrow’s mentor and guide) disappears. She is the person Qrow aspired to be:

Qrow: You never used your name, never showed your face. Lots of us thought you were just layin' low. Eventually, we just came to accept that you were probably dead. But the stories about you, I based my weapon off of yours. I wanted to be as good as the Grimm Reaper.

At the same time, Maria too, like him, considers herself a failure:

Maria: Well, I'm nothing but a disappointment, so you're well on your way.

However, at the end of the volume both Maria and Qrow realize that they do not have to save the world by themselves or to be invincible heroes. They just need to be there for their loved ones and the new generations. In short, Maria mentors Qrow on how to be a proper mentor.

And it turns out that he just has to take better care of himself:

In short, Qrow became the Scarecrow to scare crows, but ironically all he needs to do is to overcome his own fear of one Qrow.

If he does not, his semblance is bound to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, as it is shown in his two fights against Tyrian (vol 4 and vol 7).

1) In volume 4 he manages to protect Ruby, but ends up injured and unable to help the kids for the rest of their journey. He goes from their protector to a wounded man they have to take care of.

Narratively, it happens because of this:

Ruby: This is a lot to take in, and it all sounds crazy, but... I'm willing to do whatever I can to help because I trust you. But why couldn't you trust me? Why couldn't you just travel with us, instead of this secrecy, and, and--

Qrow: Look, this has nothing to do with trust. I-- It's a long story, okay?

The whole fight between Tyrian and Qrow could have played out very differently if Qrow were better at communicating with his niece. He wanted her away from Tyrian and himself because of his semblance, but Ruby interpreted it as Qrow not trusting her.

2) In volume 7, the battle ends with Clover’s tragic death being framed on Qrow.

Why does it happen?

Clover: Sometimes the right decision is the hardest to make. I trust James with my life! I wanted to trust you.

Once again, the problem lies in a lack of trust.

Qrow and Clover genuinely like each other and have bonded. Still, they fail to trust each other in a key moment and make the worst possible choice.

This is true for both characters:

Clover: I enjoyed working with you, you know. Even with that endless cynicism of yours.

Qrow: I'm usually proven right.

Clover: We don't have to fight, friend.

Qrow: You don't know my friends. That's how it always goes.

Qrow: Why couldn't you just do the right thing instead of the thing you were told?

In a sense, the whole fight can be read as The Scorpion and the Frog. In the original fairy-tale, the point is that one can’t overcome their own nature. The scorpion will sting the frog even if it goes against its own survival. Here, it is the same for the characters. In order for things to go well, either Clover or Qrow should overcome their flaw, but they fail.

Clover is not able to let go of his loyalty for Ironwood, even if it is clear the orders he received are wrong.

Qrow goes back to his usual cynism and makes a pact with Tyrian:

Robyn: I’m sorry for what happened. It wasn’t your fault.

Qrow: It was, though. I made a deal with the darkness, and he paid the price. It was all happening so fast, but Clover wouldn’t let up. Could have worked together against Tyrian if Clover just... 

Tyrian is the poisonous scorpion, while both Qrow and Clover are two frogs, who are hurt by him. Ironically, the frog’s mistake in the story is to trust the scorpion, while the mistake of our two frogs is that they did not trust each other.

Still, why is it so narratively? To be more specific, why is that so when it comes to Qrow’s character?

The answer is here:

Qrow: But the thing that really stings? For the first time in a while I thought, maybe, maybe I could be around somebody - anybody - without my semblance making it… complicated. And now, it just feels like a childish dream. Gone... like everybody else.

Clover is narratively this:

Blake: You have to understand that all of you are looking for simple answers to a very complicated problem.

He is a very simple answer to a very complicated problem that has its roots in Qrow’s interiority. Qrow’s flaw, what goes in the way of his relationships and happiness, is not that he is unlucky, but that he feels unlucky.

He feels worthless and thinks of himself as bad for others. This is why he keeps his distance and refrains himself from growing close to people.

He blames it on his semblance and this is why he makes an exception for Clover. It is because he sees in the other’s ability an easy fix to his struggle.

Still, he is proven wrong because in the moment of truth, they fail to communicate and everything goes to hell.

This is not to say that Qrow and Clover’s relationship was bad or that Clover deserved to die. In-universe their bond had beautiful aspects and could have grown stronger. Moreover, Clover could have developed and left his flaw behind.

Still, narratively Clover serves a specific purpose and him dying is a part of said purpose.

Clover brings a superficial harmony to a situation and a group dynamic, which is actually not harmonic at all:

Clover: What would you guys do without me?

The Ace Ops are a group of individuals repressing their own feelings and identities for the sake of an unspecified greater good. They see the world in black and white, not because they are stupid, but because they refuse complexity:

Robyn: Yeah, because you don’t care about the truth. You just want someone to be mad at. Easier than taking an honest look at what side you’re on.

Winter: Penny. The general is making hard choices so we don't have to.

This fits with them being a group based on Aesops aka short stories with a very well defined and often simplicistic message.

In short, Clover is the one that keeps his group together. Once he is gone, his group starts deteriorating. All because they refuse to aknowledge their feelings:

Ren: That’s why you lost against Team RWBY. You, you try to fight how you feel about each other, so you’ll never truly work as a team.

Once he is gone, Qrow is similarly forced to grieve and self-reflect. Luckily, he is not alone:

Robyn is the opposite of Qrow in terms of symbolism.

Qrow is associated with crows and bad luck, while Robyn is linked to robins, which bring good fortune.

She is also a symbol of unity and hope (her emblem is basically Katniss’s symbol in the Hunger Games, after all):

Tyrian: Robyn Hill. For such a little bird, you have quite the impact around here! Bringing hope and a smile wherever you go! I find it…upsetting.

Despite this, Robyn too has suffered isolation, just like Qrow:

Robyn: Believe it or not, I know a little of what that’s like. When people are worried you’re gonna sniff out their secrets, they tend to push you away. It makes a real connection… difficult.

Qrow: I-- never thought of it that way.

Robyn’s line is important for two reasons.

a) It shows Qrow that he is not the only one who has met difficulties in life because of his semblance. His case is not unique.

b) It links to the idea that trusting others is difficult and it is not something that comes without dedication and work.

As a matter of fact Robyn’s semblance is specifically symbolic of trust. It is the power to detect lies through touch, so if you are going to work with her, it means you must be ready to trust and to be trusted:

This also ties figuratively with the act of shaking one’s hand as if to make a pact (an act of trust). If Raven’s power is about asymmetrical bonds, then Robyn’s is about mutual ones.

Robyn highlights that this creates problems for her because it is not easy for people to trust. Some can’t be trusted, while others do not trust Robyn won’t cross their boundaries.

However, this also means that the relationships Robyn manages to forge are strong bonds, where everything or almost everything is out in the open. This is the exact opposite kind of environment than the one realized through Clover’s good luck semblance. It is a harmony more difficult to reach, but it is a more stable and genuine one.

It is these kinds of bonds Qrow should aim to create. In order to do so, he must accept his semblance and his past as parts of themselves. Still, he should not let them define him. Not only that, but he should learn to trust others and their strengths:

Qrow: Ruby, stop!

Ruby: I need you to trust me.

Only in this way, Qrow can truly grow. The secret is that it was never about scaring the crows away, but to learn how to live with them.

HUGIN THAT RUNS AWAY AND MUNIN THAT MAKES EVERYONE WORRIED

Raven and Qrow’s issues can be synthesized by this quote:

"Hugin and Munin fly each day over the spacious earth. I fear for Hugin, that he come not back, yet more anxious am I for Munin."

Raven never comes back, while Qrow has his loved ones fear for him because of his self-destructive tendencies.

In order to overcome these flaws, they must grow in opposite directions.

Raven must realize that her survivalism is actually self-destructive. It makes her survive, but it negates her the chance of living. She must become more selfless and trustworthy to make it up for the unfair bonds she created.

Qrow must accept that his self-destructiveness is actually selfish and damaging to his loved ones. He must start to trust others’ strengths, so that he can be brave enough to live together with them, instead of looking at them from afar.

[randomkposts]

Hey, so your post about fem light and her narcissism along with matt was amazing, and awesome!! I reread it multiple times, what about a female Mellow and the relationship she has with her anger, religion, and how the whammy treat and perceive her? Along with the relationship fem near has with her work place and the dynamic she has with her colleagues

K:- Mello does not have a lot of relationships with other kids, and I don't think it changed with gender. Mellos is kind of a lonely person, while not feeling alone. 

Mello looks at the world as competition, Near for one is happy to have the guidelines of that. 

Near baffles a lot of people, and her relationships with her colleagues is no different. Most probably do not interact with her. 

Like, she comes off as a distracted dreamer,up until she starts talking.

E:-Their core personality rarely change just what their surrounding change because of one thing. 

K:-Rester probably gets Near the most,and acts as his Watari, a sort of shield against the world. Halle probably views female Near as a bit more of a friend then male, and talks to her about stuff (this does not impact her loyalties) 

Givanni sometimes tries to teach her life skills.

Mello and anger. 

Hmm, that entirely depends on how you as an author choose to depict it. Anger is something they try to teach girls not to express so strongly, translating especially to Television based Mediums. 

But Mello is also a foil, and in this "always a different gender" variants, that translates

 Potentially, they could change a lot as a different gender, to the point where they never show up in the plot and there's OCs instead. But this is a story, and as such boy or girl, characters are needed to carry narrative beats. 

As a foil, particularly to Light, Mello is able to express anger in a way Light can't. As both gender Lights are in part defined by how well they publically play along with the rules of society, Mello disregards the rules of the conventional. 

So Mello is angry, and all the attempts people made to teach her restraint only made her angrier. She refuses to play by the conventions, be they social, gender, or law (ran off to be a Mafia leader). 

All the above are things Light refrains from acting on publicly, to the point of trapping.

If they had meaningful character interaction, Light would probably be kind of Jealous. 

E:- missed oppertunities.

K:- Mellos take on religion isn't even made clear in the show. 

E:-I say he's casual or just likes the aesthetics

K:-Hmm,I think it would depend on the author, and what they want to do with it. Male Mello is shown/implied to prey (notably during his death scene, via the angle of the rosery)

E:-Mmn then he does believe. But he keeps it apart from his mission. Because he is breaking a lot of commandments here. If he is Catholic. Then a prayer to the Virgin Mary for repentance. 

Mercy.

K:-Mello didn't particularly like to follow the rules. But in times of danger the familiarity of prayer is comforting.

E:- As I don't know much about Mello and his alignment with faith. While he doesn't stay in the line of good morals, he does believe in a higher power. Now I am curious though, was he born in a Catholic household? Or did he find it someway along his journey?

But I can also see Mello cracking a bible open to see what makes people go wild about it. Surprisingly a lot of people do not know the bible is just a book with pieces of other books that have to go through approval for it to be put into a one bible. Mello is someone who isn't satisfied with just the bits of it. 

So down we go through the Catholic books upon books crazy stories that teach morals and all. And you know what is probably an amazing thing to see in the protags of these books or stories?

K:- what?

E:-None of the prophets are ever eager to do their jobs. All of them are flawed human beings. And still they were chosen to do a very important task. As to quote what God said to one of his prophets

"I knew you before you knew me"

God said 'those who claim to speak for me run before even hearing me."

Paraphrasing here. But seriously people do underestimate how many of the prophets or ppl chosen are ever actually eager to do it. Reluctant heroes ahah. Or women really do have a very important parts. Its an eye opener to see or rather read about women in the bible. 

Its an eye opener to see or rather read about women in the bible. Especially in the crucifixion of Christ. They never left him even under threat of death. 

K:- that is an eyeopener Eclipse. It probably varies from bible to bible depending on the parties propaganda too. 

E:-Yes! That's another thing to notice. Other branches of Catholicism or rather Christianity have some.....interesting stories. Some heavily edited pages too. 

I can't remember if it was the Torah or Quran it even points to a man who walked with one of the prophets and blatantly stared at a woman who passed by. Now it was said he stared inappropriately at her 

So the prophet takes his jaw and turns his gaze. It clicked too that even olden times do not take that lightly.Also you noticed which teachings of followers attitude's in their writings. 

And its hilarious but also very human. 

K:-I am inclined to Believe That Mello came from a catholic family. Possibly russian immigrant. 

E:-Oh so he might be an Orthodox Catholic then. Or rather she. The writer never stated if Mello found it during his journey after leaving Whammy's with Matt or Matt went with him or joined up later. Or was Mello already born in a household for one. 

K:-Not much to go on, but Keehl is a popular (not necessarily originating) in Russia, and post soviet collapse a lot of catholics emigrated. 

E:-Religion is a touchy subject and I do worry how some people react to this. However I am happy to chat and learn from other's teachings. 

K:- I'm curious to listen and learn, but prefer to let you take point on religion, Eclipse. 

Interesting question, what if Matt was the Catholic?

E:- oh! That would be interesting. We don't know much about Matt so that would be neat to see. Mello would be curious where he goes if Matt attends Mass. Lol Mello might complain about the smell of myrrh on his clothes ahaha. Its nice smell to me but my brothers aren't a fan lmao. Matt never pushes it but does answer his questions when he asks. 

K:- what if, The Rosary is a gift from Matt? Matts old one? From his childhood. 

E:-oh. Oh that would be so beautiful. Yes. That makes it so meaningful, K. 

"It's been blessed by a priest, so no evil can chase you." Mello wears it all times. It's his shield when in the worst of hail fire from other gangs. 

Okay not you got me emotional here with that K😭😭😭 I would never let that go if someone gifted me their old rosary.

Matt and Mello go to Mass one more time before the whole Mission. I know this was supposed to be for fem Mello. But I think we just built up for Mello's faith and lack of background. 

K:- Eclipse, that just makes it sadder he dies in a church. 

E:- "forgive me" "And I shall release my soul to you."

Look I didn't come here to SOB TEARS. but I totally am. In my church we hold hands with strangers like a link. With the chant I meant. Before going in paz.

 But again I want to point out. Christianity and Catholicism has very few churches in Japan. So they would have to go find one before going all blazes out. It wouldn't be the same in a way, but the smell would be in a way. A confession too. A priest would never turn them away no matter what time it is. 

K:-(For a different read on Mello and Religion check ONLY I CAN DO IT, by lux_mea_lex on LiveJournal. Definitely interesting reads. )

*later that night*

E:- weird thought I had. Technically this makes Light the antichrist. Its like that Omen Movie. Except Light aka Kira is seen as some Divinity. So that just adds more flavor to paranormal investigation of Avenging L, beating Near, and Stopping the AntiChrist Ahahah.

K:-haha, Eclipse that is wild, deff adding that.

[johannas-motivational-insults]

So I don’t mean this argumentatively, I’m just genuinely confused & would like to understand this. I also struggle with empathy & take things very literally, so that could be part of why I’m not understanding. But where is Catra shown to be empathetic or compassionate? I understand that her abuse informs a lot of her actions and that’s why she is impulsive, lies, and manipulates others in the earlier seasons- they’re survival tactics that she got from SW + growing up in the Horde.

But I didn’t notice her going out of her way for others unless it could also benefit her in some way. I’ve also seen people say that she died in the process of sending Glimmer to Adora, & therefore deserves redemption because she made the ultimate sacrifice, only to then be saved and effectively made to work on her behavior and become a better person. And that would be all well & good, except we don’t really see her working on her behavior, except in the scene where she’s telling Adora that she’s working on her anger, and in the scene where she asks her to stay. I’m also not sure that she actually died, though I have heard a lot of people saying that. And I get that it’s called a redemption arc for a reason, & that the implication is that she will continue to work on her behavior and be better, but I just don’t know that we saw enough of that in the show.

So the thing with Catra is that a lot of this is pretty subtle. And as I said in the other ask that I assume you’re referring to with this, she’s often driven by a mix of selfish and unselfish motives. You’re correct that a lot of the times she does things for other people could also be seen as selfish moves because there’s something in it for her too, but that’s not always true and even when it is it doesn’t mean that that empathy or care for other people isn’t there.

Some examples of times when she shows empathy/care for others while also helping herself:

Gives Adora the sword so she and Glimmer can escape in 1x09, which is a kindness to Adora but also allows Catra to keep her job and her power (even if it breaks her heart to give up on bringing Adora back)

Warns Entrapta to stay out of Hordak’s sanctum and chases Entrapta down when she defies her in 2x03, which seems to be a mix of not wanting to deal with an angry Hordak herself and protecting a rather oblivious Entrapta from getting into trouble

(Note that in both of these examples she does this in a rather brusque or mean way, hiding her concern, but the subtext is there if you watch closely)

However, there are also many instances where Catra helps other people despite there not only being nothing in it for her, but when it’s actually against her own interests. Here’s the ones I can think of off the top of my head (but I’m sure there’s more):

Lies about Adora’s whereabouts and then her identity as She-Ra early in season 1 to protect her from the Horde, even after she’s promoted to Force Captain, which is dangerous not only to her career but to her life and limb

Tries to comfort her abuser Shadow Weaver when she sees her in distress in 1x04 and 1x10, the former instance right after Shadow Weaver gears up to attack her and "drag the truth” from her mind (anyone less empathetic would run away or even gloat)

Brings Shadow Weaver her old badge in 2x06 as a final favor when SW is about to be shipped away for good, despite it possibly being something that could get her in trouble and there being nothing in it for her (and in fact if she’s as selfish and callous as some say she’d deny SW this closure out of spite)

Turns down Scorpia’s offer to break her out of prison in 3x01, which seems to be entirely for Scorpia’s benefit as Catra has nothing to lose at this point (people just don’t see the compassion in this because she drives Scorpia away in a mean way to ensure she actually leaves)

Doesn’t tell Hordak that Scorpia “broke the recordings” that were inside Emily in 4x06, lies and says there was nothing, which turns Hordak’s anger on her instead of Scorpia (this perhaps is also motivated by guilt over how she just yelled at Scorpia and said awful things to her -- like I said, Catra is complicated -- but alleviating her guilt doesn’t help her situation at all so that’s borderline)

If you want, there’s a whole tweet thread of instances of Catra showing care and empathy for others. Some of these are weaker than others and the list may not be complete, but they’re all there for your consideration.

In addition to the things she does for other people, a lot of this is in her body language. If you really watch Catra, you can see that being cruel does not come naturally to her and she feels conflicted about a lot of her choices (or is straight up haunted by them, like her nightmare about betraying Entrapta in 4x03). Likewise, you often see her expression soften when she sees someone in distress. There are so many examples, it’s something baked into her character and it’s evident throughout the show, even when she’s at her lowest. But I think people often miss these moments because she usually shoves that initial reaction down and reacts in a way that on paper just makes her look like a cruel villain. For instance, she has a particularly guilt-stricken moment in 4x12 when Kyle calls her out for treating her old squad badly before she reacts by shoving that guilt down and reasserting her power, as that’s the only thing protecting her.

You have to understand that Catra was taught both implicitly and explicitly that compassion and vulnerability are weaknesses. And throughout the show, oftentimes when she does open up or do something for someone else it results in her being hurt/betrayed. Shadow Weaver in 2x06 and Double Trouble in 4x13 teach her that trusting people and allowing them in is dangerous and only ends in pain and devastation (and with Shadow Weaver, it teaches her the same lesson about showing mercy). When she spirals into her homocidal/suicidal breakdown starting in 3x03 it’s because she finds out Shadow Weaver left her to join the rebellion, just like Adora, and that Bright Moon is now harboring her abuser (as she understands it). Thing is, that all happens just as she’s starting to open up to and actually befriend Scorpia, and even though Scorpia isn’t the one who hurt her it still reinforces that pattern that vulnerability and kindness comes before a horrible, life-shattering event. Because of all this, she hides the empathy and kindness intrinsic to her actual character under layers of power and cruelty to protect her broken heart from being hurt again and protect herself from getting removed from power, because that’s the only thing keeping her from becoming someone’s abuse victim again after so many years suffering under Shadow Weaver’s heel.

I totally hear you about wishing there was a bit more to Catra’s redemption arc, but much like the rest of her emotional arc a lot of it is implicit. I’m very glad they added that one moment where she talks about working on her anger as well as her mini arc with Perfuma in 5x10 that culminated in Perfuma’s speech about learning to be vulnerable so you can be happy. But there’s lots of smaller moments buried in the season too, where we see her conflicted and struggling with these impulses of protecting herself vs. opening up or showing kindness. I mean, her half of 5x06 was basically about that too, though that’s only the beginning of this journey. Having Melog around was great too because they not only mirror her emotions for the audience to see but also help her process said emotions. Basically, the redemption is a process for her and a lot of it is not super explicit but in the end I think we have all we need to understand who Catra really is and that she wants to do better and is going to continue to in the future.

Really, Catra’s redemption arc is not so much about making up for what she did (which I and many others wish there was more of but oh well) as it is about rediscovering her true self and honoring that, learning to be vulnerable and kind again. In the end, her willingness to open herself up to potential rejection and loss and her kindness and love motivating her to help Adora get to the Heart and complete her mission are what ended up saving the universe, and that was a very intentional choice by the creators. Catra’s journey is not about coming back to Adora, it’s about coming back to herself, and I think that’s beautiful.

[zenonaa]

'The conglomerate taught him a dozen languages and how to play as many instruments. They trained him to operate multiple types of aircrafts, earn billions of dollars and not bat an eyelid as a rival company begged for mercy... However, when it came to developing feelings, that was treated in the same way as stabbing a fork into a plug socket, or offering to wash the dishes instead of letting the servants attend to them. It was common sense not to do those things.'

Fandom: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Fukawa Touko/Togami Byakuya Characters: Fukawa Touko, Togami Byakuya, Naegi Makoto Additional Tags: Togafuka Week Summary: Togami tries to prepare himself for his reunion with Fukawa.

Comments: Day 3 for TogaFuka Week! Fantasy/Kiss.

💗 Please like, share and comment if you enjoyed it! 💗

***

As the helicopter soars above the city, Byakuya visualises skyscrapers reaching toward the sky as if wanting to claim the blue expanse for itself, like that’s its God-given right. The buildings wouldn’t look out of place in a boss battle in a light gun video game. Makoto once compared them to the final level in an old zombie shooter that he played a few times at his local arcade.

Byakuya imagines the futuristic city, teeming with electricity and life, but the image lingers only for a couple of seconds before rusting, wilting, collapsing. In reality, Towa City is an industrial wasteland. Its railroad halo dips and splinters throughout, as if made from thorns, and the ghost of a bullet train explodes into dust that rains down on the city. Buildings have been amputated, leaving only stumps if nothing at all. Squinting, he discerns a car park that is now a graveyard, with graves instead of cars.

They land the helicopter in the concrete clearing behind a rundown hotel, the loud wailing of the rotorcraft’s blades slowing into pops before falling silent. No red carpet awaits them. A staircase unfolds from the helicopter’s doorway to the scarred ground. The sky is a red lipstick stain that fades into purple like a bruise.

And a short distance away from Byakuya stands Touko Fukawa.

Touko bounds toward him. “Byakuya-sama!”

Yes, he thinks, she would still call him that. Her wild mane of aubergine hair writhes with every step. Meanwhile, he glides over. His feet make no sound.

“I’ve missed you so much,” she says, stopping in front of him. She breathes in, filling her lungs with air. He brings a finger to her lips.

“Let me speak first.” Byakuya can feel her lips vibrate as words bubble in her mouth. After he lifts his finger off, her mouth hangs ajar but she stays quiet. Now it’s his turn to inhale deeply. “We have been on quite a journey. Before we met, I held the weight of the conglomerate and all the pressures involved, while you...”

The light against her lenses flashes warningly as her brow dips into a furrow.

“... had, and still have, your own,” he finishes. His teeth scrape against his lips. “When I entrusted you with Towa City, do you remember what I said?”

“No matter the distance, I will not feel a thing,” she recites.

“That’s right. You must understand that my creation was a business investment.” He swishes a hand through the air, maintaining eye contact. “Romance goes against my existence. At that time, though I had started opening up to the idea of relying on others, and letting others rely on me... I was not interested in... in romance.”

Her silence provides a clear sky that his voice fills with grey clouds. He coughs into his knuckles.

“Part of me rejected the idea of romance... And yet, to my surprise, during our time apart, where we could only speak in video calls, my heart grew fonder for you.”

Touko’s puzzled squint blooms into a wide-eyed stare. Its intensity burns his cheeks. Still, she doesn’t say a word. What if after she had drawn close enough, without the gleam on the computer screen on his face, she realised he is as cold as a monitor? Is that what is happening now? Aoi sometimes remarked that Touko was too good for him, and when Aoi became annoyed enough with something he did or said, she would add that Touko deserved better.

He used to never doubt himself, but for the first time in his life, he wonders if he is good enough.

It feels like he has taken his first step somewhere damp and mouldy, where the floorboards could give way at any moment. Without moving, his stomach drops as if he’s already falling. Byakuya’s tongue squirms in his mouth, as if trying to reverse the words that it already unleashed, but he can’t take them back.

Instead of trying to articulate his feelings, he decides to demonstrate them to her. He grabs her waist. Her head jolts back in surprise and a moment later, their lips bump together. For several long seconds, they stand stiffly, Byakuya’s hands on her body, Touko’s hands cupping air, until he needs to peel himself away to breathe.

She gazes at him, brow wrinkled, not smiling. Then she opens her mouth and asks, “Are you okay, Togami-kun?”

The voice does not belong to her. Byakuya blinks, fracturing the concrete, the sky, her body, revealing his true surroundings. Opposite him sits Makoto, the two of them seated in a helicopter.

“You zoned out there for a good few minutes,” says Makoto.

Byakuya responds with a grimace.

To bat away the encroaching silence, Makoto chirps, “I can’t believe in an hour, we’ll finally be reunited with Komaru and Fukawa-san.”

In response, Byakuya gives a solitary hum. Makoto’s smile wanes.

“Are you motion sick?” he asks Byakuya.

“No,” Byakuya says more harshly than intended, the syllable cracking the still air like a whip and making Makoto tense. He flattens his tone and adds, “I’m in thought. That’s all.”

“About the reunion?”

Byakuya nods.

“It’ll be fine,” Makoto assures him with conviction that puts Byakuya on the defensive.

“What am I supposed to say to her?”

‘Her’ being Touko, of course. The conglomerate taught him a dozen languages and how to play as many instruments. They trained him to operate multiple types of aircrafts, earn billions of dollars and not bat an eyelid as a rival company begged for mercy. With the matter of future heirs, they instructed him on what to look out for on female applicants’ forms while choosing potential mothers. However, when it came to developing feelings, that was treated in the same way as stabbing a fork into a plug socket, or offering to wash the dishes instead of letting the servants attend to them. It was common sense not to do those things.

And yet here Byakuya was, spending the journey to Towa City mentally rehearsing how he was going to confess to a woman who had gained the power to make his heart swell too big for his chest. The conglomerate could not have prepared him for such a woman. Such an intelligent woman. Such an empathetic woman. Such a loyal woman.

Most of all, a woman who drew strength from what the conglomerate called weakness. Love.

“I mean... you can say hello?” suggests Makoto.

Byakuya’s steely gaze clenches Makoto. “Then what?”

“Like... ‘How are you?’”

“I can’t treat this like a regular meeting, as if we had only last seen each other at the end of work the previous day,” says Byakuya.

“Why not?”

“This one is different.”

As Makoto’s eyes flicker, he drinks in the tension in Byakuya’s shoulders, the tightness in his fists, and says, “Ah. I see.”

Though Makoto must have known for some time now. He and the others had started alluding to Byakuya’s feelings for Touko before Byakuya was even in denial about them, back when Byakuya didn’t know what he was experiencing, or what was making his stomach flutter.

Evening has dyed the sky orange, darkness creeping in at the edges. Byakuya stares at it through the window. His unsmiling reflection leaves a faint imprint on the glass. Silence swirls around them, hanging over their heads like the rotating blades of the helicopter.

“Are you going to tell her?” asks Makoto, and he doesn’t need to elaborate.

“I should,” Byakuya replies.

“You can try a pick-up line.” Without having to look at him, Byakuya can hear the grin seeping into Makoto’s tone. “For example... Do you like raisins? How would you feel about a date?”

Byakuya’s reflection glares as Makoto carries on.

“If I could rearrange the alphabet, I’d put ‘U’ and ‘I’ together. Or - ”

“That’s enough,” Byakuya says with a shudder, raising a hand. “I aim for my demeanour to be calm and composed. I do not intend to act like a fool, throwing out hackneyed lines.”

“Sorry, sorry. But if you don’t mind me saying, you’re overthinking it, Togami-kun.”

This earns Makoto a look from Byakuya. The curve of Makoto’s lips is slimmer now, but still holding on.

“In these sorts of situations, it’s best not to use your brain...” Makoto taps himself on the head. “... but to follow your heart.” His hand shifts to his heart and pats there next.

Byakuya tightens his lips and returns his gaze to the window.

“Easy for you to say,” he mutters.

The helicopter lands by the hotel that Touko and Komaru have been living in. If not for the lit windows and neon sign, the dark column would have blended in with the night. Steel bars cage the building, mostly unbent. Byakuya’s attention fixes longest on the sign that flashes ‘TOWA HOTEL’, ‘TOWA HOTEL’, pulsing like his heartbeat, reminding him over and over where he is.

He balls his sweaty hands into fists. He can do this. ‘Follow your heart,’ Makoto had said, and his heart has been caged for so long. It’s time that he freed it.

As in his imagined scenarios, Touko runs over, her arms spread as if about to take. Byakuya tenses, for a moment thinking that he has to catch her before she flies away again.

Fortunately, she stops in front of him, her feet rooted to the ground. “Byakuya-sama!”

Byakuya swears he feels the spray of her spit, but it might just be his sweat. Makoto digs him gently in the ribs, quirks his lips, then walks toward Komaru. At no point does Touko’s eyes stray from Byakuya, who lifts his chin and adjusts his tie. Low laughter simmers in Touko’s mouth.

“I can finally smell you...” She hugs herself. “It has been so long.”

In the past, he would have told her to shut up after saying something like that, but that doesn’t seem appropriate now. Such a comment used to come across as vulgar, and maybe it still does, slightly, but he has grown accustomed to the vines that her existence has curled around him. His tongue feels thick in his mouth as he tries to think of a response.

“Well, I can smell you,” he says.

This prompts Touko to shrink back and worry her lip with her teeth. “D-Do I...? I showered earlier today. Argh, did Komaru swap my shampoo for dog p-?”

Touko cuts herself off with a groan and shakes her head. Byakuya reaches a hand toward her.

“I mean you smell good.” He immediately cringes. Good. He said, ‘good.’ Her brow creases, whether it be from confusion or from hearing such a lame adjective, and he adds quickly, “You smell like...”

Byakuya breathes in but finds himself unable to smell her, so he leans toward her so he can. She gasps. He straightens sharply.

Time ticks as Byakuya mentally flips through the scripts he had rehearsed on the helicopter.

“Romance goes against my existence,” he says.

No, wait. He hadn’t meant to say it like that.

“Went against,” he clarifies. “Remember when I said ‘No matter the distance, I will not feel a thing’?”

Touko nods slowly, frowning. His head fills with steam, rendering it practically useless, which leaves him one other organ to depend on. His heart.

“Do you like raisins?” he says. “I’d put ‘U’ and ‘I’ together.”

Her troubled expression gives way to concern. “Byakuya-sama...?”

Byakuya lets out a frustrated groan and slaps himself on the forehead. “What I want to say is...”

She springs onto tiptoe and pecks his lips.

In that moment of contact, time stops. No more than a second could have passed, but by the time she returns her heels to the ground, he feels like he has been flung up into the sky before crashing back down again, his head spinning.

While he stands frozen, she wraps her arms around him.

“I understand,” she says muffled into his chest.

He hesitates, then hugs her back, and presses his lips against the top of her head. She smells like strawberries.

[kaissauce]

Undertale characters are already so cool and funky and although aus are cool and all it loses it's spark when people only focus on sans (he's a cool character i get it but so is literally all the other main characters). here's a bunch of stuff i wrote down about them characters because idk there's so much that can be explored with the base game instead of jumping to aus

sans: a character who very clearly just wants to vibe and no way shape or form wants to be in the spotlight or the main character. casually threatens the player to show that he's more than meets the eye but also does not want to fight but is capable of doing so. has weird powers and apparently pranking people across time and space is the norm for him (according to papyrus). absolute troll. likes astronomy and science stuff. his right eye glows light blue and yellow for a few frames in very specific moments during the fight (the beginning, when he slams you into the walls during the last attack but eventually it stops glowing even when he's still slamming the soul around, and when he teleports you to the middle when you try to go to the fight button when he's still awake.) has a key to a lab with a machine which could also belong to papyrus ( twitter post suggests two people tried to fix that machine the two people could either be sans and papyrus or sans and alphys) what's the machine for? most popular headcanon is time machine presumably connected to gaster

Papyrus: an enigma, literally nothing about his past is revealed. Has weird powers that he uses so casually. barely fazed by dying and continues to believe the human. he does not kill the human and will always end the battle once the human gets to 1 hp, flat out gives the choice for the human to skip the fight after a few tries. barely sleeps, has nightmares. hates hotland, indifferent to echo flowers, online friends with alphys, knows things that did not happen yet (mettaton having eyes, the phone turning into a jetpack). why does he never take off his gloves this detail is forgotten by so many people. CHECK in the genocide route his description is "Forgettable" that could mean multiple things and none of them are good. his stats change in other routes unlike other people who have stat changes that happen because of specific scenarios: undyne's stats are different during the hangout fight, asgore's stats lower after smelling toriel's pie. Has connections to the River person, Flowey, and the Annoying Dog (pretty peculiar people). Keeps secrets, like he's MUCH better at keeping secrets then Sans. also a troll but isn't as big of a troll as sans. appears to be naive and is much more mysterious than sans and also more subtle at being mysterious. presumably also can use gaster blasters

Asgore: the king of the underground with a tragic life and carries the hopes of his subjects and the guilt from all the people he's hurt. Shows signs of knowing about resets (talking after being killed the player tells him that he's killed them and he nods sadly in response). wait that'd be really sad if he could remember previous timelines because then he'd know that he dies in every outcome except for true pacifist. most definitely did not want to kill those children but had to for monsterkind, he probably wasn't even the one to kill most of the fallen children because their stuff is in places where they presumably died. Took a long time to get a new royal scentist after Gaster was lost to his creation. Tries to get back on good terms with Toriel. he's old as friiickkk. he's horrible at naming things i find that really funny that he mashed his name and toriel's name to get asriel. first person besides alphys to meet flowey, dude i will die with the headcanon that asgore named flowey. HIS TRIDENT CAN BREAK THE MERCY BUTTON MAYBE EVEN THE OTHER BUTTONS

Undyne: The captain of the royal guard. She's missing an eye with no canon explanation. She was trained by the king of the underground and looks up to Gerson aka "The Hammer of Justice". Met Alphys at the dump and watches anime with her. Intimidating at first but she can be a really goofy person or very threatening. Tried to get Papyrus into cooking instead of wanting to join the royal guard because she knows he's against killing and he'll probably die when facing a human even though she knows he's tough. Plays piano. cheats death, basically does the impossible it's no big deal

Alphys: The Royal scientist after Gaster. Created a body for Mettaton, lied and claimed she made a robot with a soul (which alphys never revealed to anyone, the player only finds this out by getting the mystery key and the lab entries in the true lab). Experimented with DT and human souls. Knows that souls can't be artificially created. Knows about alternate realities and probably also studied timeline shenanigans (maybe sans and alphys studied that stuff together, maybe even more than just timeline shenanigans since sans is hinted to bring dog food for the amalgamates). Created Flowey. LITERALLY MANIPULATES THE GAME CODE TO TROLL THE PLAYER

Mettaton: ok how often did he forget that he's supposed to be playing as a robot with an artificial soul. like come on he had to slip up at least once. does he continue with that facade on the surface???? like i thought alphys wanted to be honest and she just never said mettaton is just a ghost?? also need me more ghost family interactions that's always fun. ALSO HIS ENDING COME ONNN THERE'S SO MUCH POTENTIAL THERE WHY ISN'T THERE MORE FICS ON IT IN FACT THERE SHOULD BE MORE FICS ON THE NEUTRAL ENDINGS IN GENERAL like i've already read some fanfics that touch on his ending and they're SO COOL but also mEssed and sad

ok im getting sleepy and this post is getting long so this next one's gonna be short

Gaster: probably actually broke people's ps4s when they typed in his name because the code to simulate a crash on a computer actually crashes the game on the console and causes a fatal error. dude gaster what the heck

[sisterssafespace]

Salaam ukhti, I do not know what to do. I’ve been talking to a guy for a while now. My mother knows about him she’s happy for us to be wed. Alhamdulilah

So, this guy & I are from different cultures. I’m african he’s indian & I have no problem with that. In terms of his deen he’s perfect for me. The last step was for him to meet my father; I spoke to my father before they met told him he’s asian not african. He seemed completely okay with it at the time. Anyway, on the day he rang him and he hung up to call me. He said a lot of negative things I won’t repeat.

But, my issue is that he didn’t even try to meet him because of his ethnicity? The worse part is I have a strained relationship with him already (we don’t live together). So, the fact he couldn’t even meet a prospective guy for me his daughter his youngest child makes it worse.

Ever since then, we haven’t been speaking and he’s being really rude to me. Constantly making sly remarks about me because he asked what I did. I was angry because he knows he put me in a horrible situation. Since I had to go back to the guy to tell him my father couldn’t come because of an ‘emergency’.

My mother came up with the solution of her older brother going to meet the guy instead. To be honest, I understand why because my uncle speaks better english so they can communicate which I’m grateful for. But, it’s upsetting knowing my dad didn’t even try and I do not know if my uncle can even mehr me if my dad doesn’t say yes.

- ☁️

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuhu dear sister, I hope you are feeling better by the time you are reading this.

Let me start by saying that your ask hit a not close to home for I can relate on some points. Allahu al'mustaān.

Now, before getting into the story, let me just answer your last question about whether your uncle (brother to your mom) could marry you, if your father doesn't cooperate. Well, I know I clarified in the bio and the opening post that this page doesn't give fatwahs but this is not a fatwah as the fatwah is already there and all over the internet , and it's ' common knowledge ' unfortunately no, the brother of the mother doesn't have the authority to marry the girl off in Islam. In fact, there is a sequence or list of ' wali-s ' who can marry her and in case the father wasn't capable of doing that, then it is the paternal grandfather, then the brother, then the half brother (from her father's side), then her father's brother, then her father's half-brother, then her paternal cousin (son of her father's brother), then son of her father's half-brother, then in case all of them are not available or they don't agree, then it's taken up to the Judge. See, there is no family member from the mother's side in that lineage. Just to be clear.

However, we should consider alllllll the other options that you have before thinking of the worst case scenario, sis. Because even if your father wasn't the greatest man and you don't have the strongest relationship with him, you don't want to start this important chapter of your life on the wrong foot, by upsetting him more, or ruining your chances to fix things with him. It will only complicate the situation more. And keep in mind: it is not permissible to get married without a wali, as prophet Muhammad ﷺ said : There is no marriage without the permission of a guardian.

Now let's see what we are dealing with, I don't know the reasons why your father is having this position - but one can only imagine.. However, Islam is innocent from all these ideologies, interracial and mixed marriage were never a problem in Islam and Allah swt and his Prophet ﷺ never forbid nor advised against marrying someone from a different ethnicity. In fact, the Prophet ﷺ said : "When someone whose religion and character you are pleased with proposes to (someone under the care) of one of you, then marry to him. If you do not do so, then there will be turmoil (Fitnah) in the land and abounding discord (Fasad)."

So, if the only reason why your father is not approving of this marriage is that the potential partner is from a different ethnicity, then your father is in the wrong and he will be accountable on his part. But there isn't much you can do without his approval. So what can you do instead? Is there any uncles from your father's side? A grandfather? An authoritarian family member? Or your local Imam or someone that your father actually values and listens to that you can actually talk to? To convince him to at least give the man a chance? And yes your uncle from your mother's side could talk to the guy and get to know him and maybe then he could tell your father about his qualities and how he is in shaa Allah a perfect fit for you, but again, he can't marry you off.

Now, I am sharing with you the feedback of a sister who is Alhamdulillah in a mixed marriage, she has been thru your experience and is now Alhamdulillah happily married, may Allah bless her and her family : "I understand her pain. They're judging him before even meeting him.. I don't know if there's much she can do tho. I think it's most likely that her father needs time to get used to the idea. He didn't expect her to marry out of the culture, that's a hard pill to slick for a lot of elder people. The advice I can give is to give it time and pray for it. Intercultural relationships is almost normal for our generation but it isn't for the generations before us. We have to keep that in consideration.

Also, if her uncle gets to meet the guy, maybe he can tell her father how great he is especially when it comes to deen. And her mother knows her father the best, she can eventually also speak in on his mindset and make him see that he's wrong to judge someone he hasn't even met.

I pray that her father 'wakes up' and realizes that culture doesn't matter. The only thing that will bring them to jannah, is their deen, and alhamdulillah he's perfect for her deen-wise. May Allah ease their affairs and bring them together in marriage. ❤️"

-----------------

I will finish with this meaningful insight from islamqa.org "While family members may think they are acting in the best interest of their children, there are many cases in which the refusal of parents is based on incorrect presumptions and understandings that stem from their own, distinct experiences and contexts that their children may not necessarily share.

In such cases, if someone does believe they have genuinely found someone suitable for marriage, whether from a different race/culture or not, and their parents still prove to be difficult, they should try to convince them with wisdom and tact, and take all appropriate means to make them see the merits of the decision.

Parents certainly have a right to be concerned about the future of their children, but since it is not the parents entering into the marriage, children also need to make sure they are not being forced into decisions that will adversely effect them in the future."

And most importantly (from the same source) "You should know that marriages are destined by Allah, All-Wise. So if this marriage is facilitated for you, then it will happen, and if not, then it won’t. And in either case, there is wisdom behind this that you are not aware of, so you should pray salat al-istikharah for ease in this matter if it should be good for you. It is best that you take the path of benevolence and kindness in these kinds of issues and don’t rush things lest you aggravate the problems."

To conclude, my dear sister, I KNOW that when we are inn love/ or when we start getting attached to someone, we let our imagination run wild, we build hopes and dreams involving them, we want to be with them asap and we let ourselves get carried away, I know for a fact that you'd want to rush things and just get married to this guy and get it over with, I feel you, I relate to you, I understand you perfectly. But sometimes that's not how life works for a) there's Allah's timing for everything and b) there's Allah's plan for us. We think we are choosing and we think we are planning but it's just an illusion, at the end of the day it's only Allah's plan that works. That's why I pray that your choice matches what Allah swt has already chosen for you, and your plan confirms with Allah's plan for you. Please please please pray Istikhara times and times and times again, tell your guy to pray Istikhara as well, and sis, duāa is your only way out of this. Try to pray Tahajjud (night prayer) if you can, I heard a saying a while ago that anyone who has any need from Allah swt should never miss a Tahajjud prayer. In the quiet of the last third of the night, when everyone else is sleeping, just you and your broken words and you crying heart sincerely and humbling asking for Allah's help and guidance. It works miracles ✨

In shaa Allah kheir my dear, may Allah swt guide you, and bring what's kheir for you closer, and grant you what your heart is wishing for. May Allah swt have mercy on your heart and not allow it to be broken over this matter. Ameen. 🤍

- A. Z. 🍃