#i think it's cool to have characters with growth inherent in their motivations and that want something SO badly

[cheekinpermission]

I wanna talk about the scene in the museum with Azul...

(SPOILERS FOR BOOK 3 AHEAD. ALSO LOTS OF RAMBLING! :D)

During Ch. 38 of Book 3, Azul and Yuu have a short conversation post-overblot in the underwater museum place. I always felt that this bit of dialogue was weirdly charged? The whole scene felt very intimate to me (and the soft music in the background doesn't help lmao), but I never knew WHY since nothing said was inherently romantic.

So, I went back and re-read through every post-overblot and realized that Azul is the only who who has a one-on-one conversation with Yuu after their overblot??

It's rare enough to have one-on-one conversations between Yuu and another character, but then Azul goes a step further. He's the only one to open up to Yuu about his problems:

Some of the other overblot boys talk about their problems, but not to Yuu specifically. It's more of a declaration than confiding in someone, you know? (E.g. Riddle talking about how he prefers milk tea even though the rules stipulate lemon tea)

We, the players, are shown flashbacks of the overblot boys to explain how they reached this point but I can't recall if Yuu is privy to this information as well. (It's theoretically possible since Yuu already has visions / dreams of the Great Seven, but no one ever mentions it so who knows. I'm personally on the side of Yuu NOT knowing because it feels a bit invasive that they'd have this knowledge of people who weren't ready to share it.)

Regardless of whether Yuu can or cannot see those flashbacks, Azul is the only one to willingly talk about his motivations to Yuu. For Azul, this is especially important as he's so protective of his image as a clever and upstanding housewarden, and yet here he openly admits to Yuu that he was a bit of a loser as a kid (his words not mine!).

I guess you could argue that he felt there was no reason to hide it anymore since Yuu already saw him as a chubby octopus baby, but he didn't have to talk about it at all if he didn't want to. But he did. On his own. With no prompting. (Really, though. Yuu can either say they want to make sure he puts the photo back or that they're worried about him, and either way he drops his lore on them lol) And then Yuu tries to help him feel better??

To my knowledge, Yuu doesn't do this with any of the other overblot boys, either. I could have missed it during my research, but if they did it wasn't nearly to the same extent as with Azul.

I still don't know why Azul felt like opening up to Yuu. He didn't have to, but maybe he wanted to? Maybe he wanted to try his hand at being genuine for once and felt Yuu was the least intimidating person to do it with (the magicless human that they are). Who knows? I wish there were more scenes like this. It makes Yuu feel more included in the story. I also think it shows a lot of growth on Azul's end to open up about his problems to Yuu of his own volition.

I'm not sure what I wanted to say with this post, only that I wanted to get my thoughts out there about this scene because it always stood out to me. I felt there was always an undercurrent of something and I think it's because this was the only post-overblot private conversation we got with Yuu and an overblot boy, plus the added encouragement from Yuu at the end.

I'm curious to know if anyone felt the same way about this scene or if I'm just imagining things. I'm also interested in hearing any theories why Azul suddenly felt the urge to open up to Yuu, if you've got them!

Thanks for enduring my rambling!

Bonus!

Azul's so funny for trying to play it off all cool like he isn't doing flips and princess twirls in his head rn. Yuu laid it on THICK. We all know he's freaking out internally.

[guidingsbolt]

i have FINALLY figured out the throughline in my characters!

[skullscramblies]

We should talk about the moth.

Given the importance of silk and fabric in ofmd, I think it was a deliberate and symbolic choice to have Stede stop the episode (and the characters) in their tracks to admire a silk moth.

It’s about life, and death, and legacy—it’s about being a Kraken or just being Ed. And I think it could reveal a lot about his motivation to toss away the red silk, along with the most stable support system he had seen in the weeks he spent on the Revenge.

It’s true that the presence of Pirates, the approach of a pirate ship on the horizon and the flag it flies signals death. But the silk moth—and the silkworm that it used to be—is why a flag could mean death.

More under the cut.

Silk is inherently a product of death, much in the way that a famously successful pirate cannot avoid causing death on their journey (directly or otherwise.) In order to reach the goal of creating silk—or in Edward’s case, becoming Blackbeard—many lives need to be sacrificed.

Silk is a finery, a “treasure” that is gained by the loss of many “expendable” lives—which tracks with how pirating tends to go. It’s just that instead of boiling silkworm cocoons (and their inhabitants) to harvest their silk, you’re sending a crew into a battle, you’re losing some of yours and hopefully taking out some of theirs. And the reward is whatever you can take away once the ship has been unraveled.

But then in comes Stede, the “Gentleman” pirate. He is mortified by death, whether it’s his own or his crew or even his enemies. At least in this first season, he is very averse to bloodshed—we’ll see what happens if we get another season, but for now, let’s assume that Stede is a perfect narrative foil to Blackbeard.

Repeatedly, Stede comes through with an alternative to bloodshed. He tries to bargain when possible instead of killing. The fabric in his cabin is not silk, it is the quite exquisite cashmere (a much less cruel alternative to silk, something that is just as fine to the touch but is shorn and regrown instead of being taken by painful death.) And most importantly: the moth he holds out serenely to Edward is just that, a moth—a silk worm that has been allowed to live and grow and become a moth.

Stede is not only offering up a symbol of life, and growth and transformation—something that Edward is desperately searching for—he is doing so in a way that is intimately linked to how Edward sees himself and the world. He is showing Ed (or more accurately, the viewer—I don't think any of this is consciously done by the characters) that silk (piracy) and silkworms (people) exist separately from their cruelty. Not all silk worms are destined to die a horrible death, look at this specimen! Not only did it survive but it flourished! And so too could Edward, when separated from Blackbeard.

And while at first he’s bitchy about it, too busy swatting flies and feeling sorry for himself to be receptive to the moth right away—he softens. He stops, takes a look, listens to Stede and admits that hey you know what, that particular bug might be a little cool.

And then all of a sudden This Is Happening, Blackbeard is visibly receding into the background and allowing Ed to shine through and bicker with Stede, to be open with him, to listen to Lucius and make a move toward stability and human connection… in this moment, Ed decides to be Ed. He takes steps toward this peculiar non-violent man and his ideology and finds himself enjoying it. He chooses the moth over the silk.

In both the forest and the blanket fort, we see a juncture. We see that there are paths Ed can take which lead to wildly different outcomes. We see him climbing over the ship railing just as the navy sets in on the Revenge set to The Chain and we see how crucial the choice can be—you either choose love now, or you will never have love again.

And so when shit goes sideways and he's abandoned, the choice taken away from him, Blackbeard has this violent turn-around. He effectively kills the moth. He removes all traces of Stede (except for the painting and the cravat, to remind himself of where he's come from. A token, like the silk, to keep himself on track) and he starts his cycle of violence over again. His first victim—and if we choose to believe him, his first real kill since his father—is Lucius. He tosses the silk, and he tosses Lucius, and he starts over. A new beginning, just like Lucius said.

Lucius is the catalyst for a lot of Edward’s feelings toward Stede: not only is he the one to crack some sense into Ed, he is also frequently an intermediary between the two. He’s the one who delivers the break-up box. He’s the one who comes and talks Ed out of the blanket fort. He’s the one who clocks them right away and tries to help mend things between them. And so if Blackbeard is truly gouging out everything that could bridge the gap between him and Stede, well, Lucius has to go.

Instead of taking up another literal piece of silk, he takes up a new flag—and starts the body count with Lucius. This time, instead of killing an abuser after a lifetime of abuse, he kills an innocent man that had given him hope and support. He turns his back fully on his own redemption to embrace death and violence. He turns his back on Stede. And he turns his back on the idea that he could ever be more than the Kraken who stirs a boiling pot. He puts Stede on a pedestal that looks a whole lot like a lighthouse… and just as his scrap of silk had once represented hope, he flies a flag that means death.

[itsclydebitches]

Even though I liked Oscar, he shouldn't have been Oz's host. RWBY always had the problem of character bloat and instead of making a new one they should have put him in someone else like Ruby. That way, she is actually important to the story. Though as much as I like the idea, I have seen some voice concerns over it, such as the show being about girl power yet having Ruby's importance being because of a man, as well as the implications of a male reincarnating into a female. What do you think?

Yeah, although I've supported the idea in the past and even threw out some fic for the concept, I 100% understand why fans are uncomfortable with Ruby being Ozpin's host. You summarized it perfectly here: "That way, she is actually important to the story." Implying that, without him, she's not. It's a bit of a problem to advertise a show around a team of women, slam an old man into one's head, and then go, "NOW Ruby matters to the plot. She didn't only as herself, a young woman fighting for what's right, but while being forced to share her body with the classic mentor figure? She becomes important." That's pretty much the antithesis of what RWBY wants to be. Of course, I think the underlying, primary issue is that Ruby hasn't been integrated into the plot well. The reason we hesitate over the idea isn't because Ruby being Ozpin's host is inherently bad, but because it would be bad in the context of what RWBY has previously given us in terms of Ruby's characterization. If she were a character that had stronger ties to the war, more fleshed-out goals and motivations, a solid history where no one in the fandom was questioning her importance in this tale... then adding Ozpin would be just that, an addition. Him merging with Ruby wouldn't be the reason why she's important to her own, title show, simply another reason to forward her already strong quest. And, one would hope, in a version of RWBY where that occurs, Ozpin's goals may well bump up against Ruby's, causing conflict and, eventually, growth. What happens when the man who thinks about this war as a generational fight is forced to coincide with a girl primarily after Salem to avenge her mother's death? That could be really interesting and would fix one of the main issues we see with Oscar: he's not really a character outside of merging with Ozpin. I love him too, but the boy has no ties to home, no dreams, nothing outside of hating the merge because it's generically scary. The character I adore is largely built on fan work and the headcanons of teeny tiny details. (He's cute when he blushes! Mysterious bandages on his neck! Reads books and once spoke to Blake so friendship maybe??) In canon though he begins and ends with Ozpin... which is precisely the worry fans have if Ruby was the host instead. The woman-led show with a protagonist whose name is a version of the title only finds motivation and meaning in this tale once a guy slams into her head? No thank you. Ruby would need to be a more well-developed character to withstand that choice, someone who's journey has more nuance (what do you want other than just doing the right thing?) and consistency (why has the primary "development" lately been Ruby learning to headbutt and lying after deciding that lying is a sin?)

Of course, Ruby herself isn't the only potential pitfall with this idea. As you say, we have the complexities of a man reincarnating into a woman. To be clear, I think that idea is pretty cool and has the potential for some awesome storytelling. Does Ozpin identify as a man? Does Ruby identify as a woman? Does magic just not care about gender, thus forcing a rather difficult situation to navigate? How does one manage bodily autonomy and your sense of self when suddenly you're housing another soul? I'd love to see a story tackle these questions... I just don't want that story written by RT. They've shown through the last eight volumes that they're not well equipped to manage such sensitive subjects. We don't even need to delve into related topics like the racism allegory or the treatment of queer characters because Oscar already embodies those autonomy/self questions (if not the gender questions) and, when push came to shove, RT decided to ignore those ideas rather than grapple with them. Volume 6 was when Oscar's crisis came to a head, he's been unfairly attacked for Ozpin's choices, his sense of self is eroding, it culminates with him running away, the fandom waits on the edge of their seats during the hiatus... and then when we came back, Oscar was fine. He bought an outfit, made a casserole, and got over everything off screen. RT has shown in many ways, both overt and implied, that they don't really want to write these stories. They just want to occasionally include popular/hot-button topics in the lighthearted action show resulting in many fans being (justifiably) upset when they inevitably abandon those ideas, or skate over them, or just rush through to a conclusion. As RWBY stands, giving them a Ruby-Ozpin merge would likely be a disaster. While I completely agree that bringing another character into the mix was ultimately a mistake, it's a very small mistake compared to the likely problems fixing things in this particular way would churn up. Arguably, these problems are far worse than having an underdeveloped farm boy tag along.

So I like the idea, but I like it in AUs. I like a Ruby-Ozpin merge in fics and in the totally made up version of RWBY I have in my head where the writing is strong enough, nuanced enough, and the writers concerned enough with tackling these topics respectfully that we could go down that road with minimal issues. Doing this in the current canon, however, is asking for trouble.

[the-phantom-ender]

okay serious entity assignments time now because i said i might yesterday and i am better rested now.

first off, ill say that like... i dont know everything about every empire, i might be a little off base with some of the members i know less about.

second, the thing about aligning characters with entities is that it doesnt tend to be as easy as just something they fear. they also have to thrive in it. if all it took was fear, there would be lots of people marked directly by the web, if all it took was the ability to thrive, most introverts would be marked by the lonely. it takes a careful balance of both (unless the characters hand is forced, which we do technically see in t.ma canon at least once) for someone to be effectively marked by a fear, much less be an avatar (which is... a loose term at best but i digress because the explanatory bit is getting long dfjkhdf)

stuffs under the cut because it got. long. and feel free to share your own thoughts about them!!

shelby: an interesting case where my gut said corruption but upon reflection i think aligning her with the eye makes more sense? she definitely is shaped by corruption, but her arc thus far has mostly revolved around her desire to learn and her fear of what that knowledge might reveal. after her encounters with xornoth, she also seems very nervous about the idea of being watched.

lizzie: the vast is obvious for her, but it does make sense. its the fear of heights and deep waters and human insignificance, infinity. lizzie absolutely thrives in the depths and holds no fear for the waters but she does show hesitance when it comes to leaving. the danger comes from the outside, the other. which seems more like the lonely, sure, but the vast and lonely link greatly.

joel: im a little biased with the desolation alignment for joel because of 3l. i still think it could work for empires, but... the stranger might work better. i dont think theres anything quite as 'stranger' as filling your home with statues of yourself, giving workers your face, but everything is just slightly... wrong. be it that they dont fit quite right or that their limbs are leather and wood. Unfamiliarity, the uncanny.

gem: so id originally said eye for gem but @loganprobably (i hope the tags cool sjgkhdfh) mentioned the lonely and... both work i think. gem has an appreciation for knowledge, for awareness and learning. but shes also in a position where she both isolates herself and gets overly involved. being one of the people to try to ally with everyone but having a clear side picked. the welcome and the shunning. whats a girl gotta do for some peace and quiet?

scott: scott is... hard. itd be so easy to just throw lonely or eye at him because he stays to himself and knows a lot. id wager the web might work better, though. he keeps his distance, keeps an eye on all that goes on, and... makes no moves. he waits, plans ahead. if war brews he needs to be able to side with the winners. he shows a distain for the idea of being controlled and avoids situations where he could be. hes careful with his choices when theyre made.

jimmy: jimmy. lonely, but for a different reason than gem would be. he is friendly and kind and cares deeply for others, yet hes so clearly... the outcast, even within his own circles. hes the picked on, the betrayed. a friend to all but loved, respected, by none. in his times of need he is forgotten, silenced. yet he doesnt seem to hate the loneliness, just the fact that no one came.

joey: oh god here we go. joeys hard to pin down. the hunt might work? he could fall into the lonely but being lost doesnt inherently mean lonely (it actually ties more in with the vast). i say the hunt, though, because he refuses to back down from his stances, even if theyre objectively wrong, and will do so by whatever means necessary. hell instigate the death of others for the sake of getting what he wants.

fwhip: the slaughter. sacrifice and destruction follow him in everything and he thrives in it. his violence isnt entirely mindless but he has a penchant for war and the things that go into it. heres where my stuff starts getting less cohesive as i watch these members much less ;^^

sausage: the corruption and the desolation lay equal claim on sausage. in everything he plays tricks and feigns niceties and makes himself out to be the one in the right. all the way he makes it seem as if hes kind and just in his actions even if his motives are chaos and destruction. he still holds a fear for things going wrong and holds tight to his alliances.

pixl: the end. his vigil is very very 'end' to me. death, to him, is inevitable, a fact of life, and he choses to honor it and give it respect. in all things he does he knows death to be a cause and an end to the means. even if his trickery may just be a signal of the spiral... whos to say?

katherine: okay. bear with me for this one, yeah? the flesh. no im not only saying this because of the bone garden. the fear that we are just meat and bones, the realization that animals go to the slaughter. i believe its a fact that many involved with the flesh become vegetarian after encounters and her whole thing is plants. she shows a distaste for killing animals but a desire to use them in projects.

pearl: the dark. yes, this is the obvious choice, but i do have reason beyond it. pearls character in empires is directly contrary to her name. she revels in the light and lives around sunflowers and growth. despite this she will let herself work into the night, she will let herself turn a blind eye to damage being done. what she cant see cant hurt her.

bonus:

xornoth: the extinction. i know there are no actual avatars of the extinction in the source, however: it makes sense, right? more than this creature is corruption or the end it wants mortals gone. it wants mortals gone and to be released and freed to do this deed.

[mexicancat-girl]

Ok guys, I can't take it, I’m seriously at my limit here.

Uraraka vs Bakuboi was a sham of a fight and none of it makes any goddamn sense.

Uraraka deserved her win, for multiple reasons.

Shout out to @bnhasalt, who’s post reminded me how indignantly furious this arc makes me.

More under the cut over both how salty I am, and how Uraraka losing against Explodo Kills makes absolutely no sense, even narratively.

(Warning ahead for a discussion on sexism, misogyny, forced fanservice, the blatant favoritism towards That One Specific Character even if unearned in the narrative, and the general incompetence on how to write female characters.

I call B/kugo “Bakuboi” in this analysis bc I don’t want to write his Actual Name out and have it pop up in his character tags. Also, heads up, I’m sorry for how messy and long this rant is )

First, can I just say that Horikoshi is uhhhh Bad at writing female characters?

Which I’m sure many female fans already have an inkling about, but goddamn is it never more obvious than in the Sports Festival Arc. Because hey, at least the female characters are THERE and PARTICIPATING and have their own time to shine! This ISN’T one of those arcs that just stars THE BOYS, so that MUST mean this arc is equal opportunity! Right...?

God, I wish. I wish...

See, the girls are the minority of the Sports Fest in general. It shouldn’t be this way. And quite frankly, the fact that the classes (and UA in general) isn’t closer to being a 50/50 gender split also makes no sense, considering all children are raised in a society that values heroism EQUALLY and almost half the population is male and half female.

But, okay, let’s say I actually believe in the most illogical character ratio imagineable of there being a 2 boy to 1 girl, like this is another round of Naruto But It’s Superheroes So It’s Different I Swear.

We all know that there is going to be an emphasis on Izuku, since he’s the protagonist and he wants to make All Might proud during the Sports Festival.

Pre-Festival, there’s the reveal that Uraraka wants to do her best, with her main motivation of becoming a hero to give her parents a good life. Iida also wants to make his own family proud, specifically his brother, because of his family legacy. 

Since these three are a trio, you’d think they’d all get some time to shine, right? Since they’re Izuku’s friends? And Izuku considers them his equals?

Yeah, no. Wrong.

This arc is dominated by Izuku, Shoto, and Bakuboi. That becomes clear very quickly. 

I knew I shouldn’t expect much, since these three are powerhouses and also the most popular characters of the entire franchise (just look at the popularity polls) but still. I’d thought at least Uraraka would get a chance to shine! Since we get some character development and motivation revealed from her!

But the female characters in general get done so dirty this arc, despite it being first set up as a perfect arc to let the girls have just as much opportunity to participate as their male peers.

The most significant part of the female characters all getting an ‘equal time to shine’ is when He Who Must Not Be Mentioned and Kaminari trick the girls into dressing as scantily-clad cheerleaders. Which is both Tiring and Unncessary.

(This scheme also shouldn’t have worked because Momo is Vice Rep and she is an intelligent girl, top of her class. She would be smart enough to go to a teacher and actually double-check to see if Class 1-A girls really needed to cheer in the activities portion of the Sports Festival. 

But noooo, Horikoshi can’t pass up a chance for FANSERVICE and forcing his underaged female characters to be uncomfortable for The Funnies! Thanks! I hate it!)

The female characters that move onto the final round of the Sports Festival, and thusly have the most attention, are: Uraraka, Mei Hatsume from Support, Momo, Mina, and Shiozaki from 1-B.

Wow, I sure wish these girls could like...show their worth. And maybe NOT get steamrolled and easily tossed aside in their matches because they’re facing Boys and Boys Have Strong Offense-based Quirks, That’s The Rules Folks.

(Before you come at me, I know that isn’t a rule that applies to every single male character in the series, but the strongest and offense-based Quirks tend to go to the male characters, while the female characters tend to get more support-based Quirks. It’s both sexist, but also an inherent trend in media in general. Please Just Let Women Punch Shit To Smithereens And Control The Elements.)

Yes, Mina and Shiozaki won their first rounds easily! And that’s great to see! But then we turn right around, and they're eliminated just as quickly in their second matches! Without even a fighting chance!

Good God, Shiozaki is literally PUSHED OUT OF THE RING. That’s it, that’s how she lost. Same thing with Momo in her match! And Mei straight-up forfeits because her character is based more on advertising her inventions/babies, so she doesn’t even fight.

So essentially, the female characters are shucked away if they’re not used to make the male characters look good, or there for fanservice, or there to show a shallow form of ~feminism~ so Horikoshi can pat himself on the back and say “See! Girls strong! I can write girls!”

And now we get to the meat of things: Uraraka.

Oh, poor Uraraka. Out of all the female characters, your potential was the greatest, and also the most squandered...

As a reminder, at the start of the arc, Uraraka speaks with both Izuku and Iida about how she wants to do well in the Sports Fest. They all promise to do their best. Izuku’s friends admit that they want to face him in later matches, because they want to be his equals.

Uraraka wanted to stand on the same level as Izuku and Iida, but she's the only one that doesn't move on past her first match!

And man, what an absolute bogus match it is.

Is it emotional? Yeah. Did I tear up when I watched it? Sure, every single time! But that's more because Uraraka is one of my favorite characters and I feel empathy for her and thought she deserved better.

The match gets to me because I also hate how Bakuboi is so fucking entitled and gets everything handed to him on a silver platter.

Bakuboi himself is written as, essentially, a Gary Stu. He always wins. ALWAYS. And even when he ‘loses’, he still manages to beat his opponents to the point that they need to be hospitalized (see Izuku vs Kacchan pt 1) or he makes his losses ALL ABOUT HIMSELF by twisting logic to fit his own narrative.

Remember how Bakuboi won against Todoroki in the final match? And was so pissed at him he was ready to Physically Assault Todoroki for him not being able to Get Over His Trauma to go 100% during their match? And even though Bakuboi LITERALLY won the entire Sports Festival, he’s so entitled that he demands a rematch because he feels like he “didn’t actually win”?

Not wanting a rematch for Todoroki’s sake, because Todoroki has been through a rough time and Bakuboi overheard Todo’s Tragic Abusive Backstory. Oh no, that would make too much sense and show too much character growth, we can’t have that! Bakuboi, even when winning the Sports Festival, demanded a rematch because he wanted to beat the shit out of Todoroki AGAIN to assert his dominance.

You see, Bakuboi is always rewarded in the narrative. Even when he loses it’s not seen as his fault. He’s never really punished for it, and he never learns any lessons from his losses.

Ah, and let’s not forget, Katsuki Bakuboi has the Best And Strongest Quirk Ever. Strong enough to even do the impossible and work to his advantage when it shouldn’t!

Like how he SOMEHOW manages to ‘beat the odds’ by breaking the laws of physics to win in Round 2. He manages to PUNCH THROUGH A QUIRK THAT CREATES A SOLID WALL from 1-B’s Tsuburaba in order to get back his team’s headband and move on to Round 3.

Or hey, his finishing move, Howlitzer Impact? Doesn’t make any sense either. It shouldn’t work as a...cyclone? Tornado? Drill thing? 

Look, the logistics of it shouldn’t work. Yes, this is anime, but do you HONESTLY think that a teenager YEETING himself in a fast spiral will somehow accomplish anything more than spreading out some explosions in a circle around him? You honestly think any other character would be able to pull that bullshit off WITHOUT upchucking their entire lunch?

But because it’s Bakuboi, it works somehow. Because Bakuboi’s Quirk is The Shining Beacon Of Quirks. 

Drawbacks? Sure, he SUPPOSEDLY has them. They’re noted in his character profile and everything. But very rarely do those supposed “drawbacks” ever actually come into play and actually, like, stop him. Or slow him down. Or, yknow, ACTUALLY WORK LIKE DRAWBACKS ARE SUPPOSED TO WORK.

Because apparently, human limits don’t exist for Katsuki fucking Bakuboi, nope, not at all!

One of Bakuboi’s "drawbacks" is supposed to be that he can't overexert himself or he can fuck up his wrists/his forearms will start to ache. 

Cool cool cool, except...This rarely slows him down or effects him at all. 

It’s actually astounding he hasn’t given himself Carpel Tunnel, because that would be a natural consequence to over-using his Quirk. Hell, he should be fucking up his arms almost as much as Izuku does to his own arms with a destructive Quirk like OFA! Explosions are dangerous and cause massive destruction, and that should be fucking up his arms SOMEHOW!

But, nope. Bakuboi is as fresh as a goddamn daisy. He can Never Have A Weakness.

(Another drawback is cold weather/Winter season is supposed to weaken his Quirk. Makes sense, since heat would help him produce more nitroglycerin sweat, and the cold would make it hard to sweat. But that sure as hell didn’t stop him during the Joint Training Arc in the future, and he didn’t struggle whatsoever to almost singlehandedly win that for his team.)

Not ONCE does Bakuboi’s Quirk ever effect him negatively and forces him to weaken! He keeps using his Quirk like it's nothing!!

And that’s the crux of the entire problem with Uraraka vs Bakuboi’s match.

Bakuboi apparently has “drawbacks” and “limits”, but he keeps somehow managing to break them without a sweat (ha) and without consequence, essentially PULLING WINS OUT OF HIS ASS.

Bakuboi was using his Quirk LITERALLY NONSTOP during Round 1, and kept using it to throw himself around in Round 2. Logically, he should’ve fucked his arms up and been at the very least SLOWED DOWN by the third round of the Sports Fest because he went past what were SUPPOSED to be his Quirk’s canonical limitations and logic!

It would've taught Bakuboi that he can't fucking steamroll through all his problems! He has limits! There are consequences to over using his Quirk! He’s a human being and he doesn’t have endless stamina like some sort of God!

Hell, every other character has these limits very clearly shown and outlined with their Quirks! Uraraka throws up when she over-uses Zero Gravity. Shoto, before using his fire side, would get frostbite. Iida’s Engines will stall after using Recipro Burst.

The other characters have limitations to their Quirks that slows them down, shows consequences for their actions, but Bakuboi NEVER HAS ANY.

THIS is why he’s a Gary Stu. THIS is why he won his match against Uraraka.

Not because of any logic. Because HIS QUIRK HAS NO FLAWS. And on top of that, THE NARRATIVE KEEPS REWARDING HIM, EVEN WHEN HE HASN’T EARNED IT.

Bakuboi SHOULD have been weakened from using his Quirk non-stop. Bakuboi SHOULD NOT have managed to pull out that “one final big explosion” that ruined Uraraka’s final attack.

Bakuboi was literally hissing about his arms hurting earlier, before their match started. And Uraraka forced him to use his Quirk so much that she managed to amass a ton of debris to knock him out and win the match. HIS EXPLOSIONS SHOULD HAVE SPUTTERED OUT, AND NOT SAVED HIM WITH THAT LAST-SECOND ASSPULL.

Like, I’m preeeeetty sure the entire reason Horikoshi wrote Uraraka vs Bakuboi in the first place was because he was attempting at writing Feminism.

See, Bakuboi Hates Everyone Equally, he’s not a violent misogynist for beating up Uraraka! It’s a Match, he Respects Women And Sees Them As Equals! The Crowd of Pro Heroes are the ones being Misogynistic and Judging The Match Early!

And look at Uraraka, she’s a Strong Woman! She keeps getting back up! That’s the Shonen Spirit! And she’s smart, too! Look at her amazing plan to win--

Oh, wait. Wait, nope. She didn’t win at all! :) Because our shining beacon of perfection Katsuki Bakuboi never loses!! :)) Look at all her hopes and dreams being blown to literal smithereens, because of Bakuboi’s ass pull, even though he shouldn’t have had enough time, sweat, and strength to muster up that last explosion!!! :)))

Can ya’ll feel my incandescent fury right now?

Because Horikoshi can NEVER write Bakuboi losing, Uraraka COULDN’T HAVE WON, even if her winning makes THE MOST LOGICAL SENSE.

This scene was supposed to show Uraraka’s strength. But it feels like Uraraka is being literally spit in her face, for even DARING to TRY to win against Katsuki fucking Bakuboi.

How much more impactful would Uraraka’s breakdown have been, if she had moved onto the Second Round with Izuku and Iida? How she would feel ashamed that she couldn’t keep up with them, with how Powerful their Quirks are? Especially after seeing Izuku and Todoroki’s amazing match, and seen how destructive and close a match it had been?

How DEVASTATED she would have felt, beating BAKUBOI--one of the strongest of their class!--and then STILL managing to lose the Sports Festival?

That would have been SO much more interesting! And even SADDER!! C’mon!

Uraraka SHOULD have won her match! It would’ve provided both character development for herself, and for Bakuboi! Bakuboi would realize he has limits to his body and Quirk, and realize not to underestimate his opponents! Uraraka would realize that she’s strong in spite of her Quirk not being necessarily combat-oriented, but still has a long way to go in being a Pro Hero!

But, nooooo. We can’t have CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, can we? We ESPECIALLY can’t have THE FEMALE CHARACTERS IMPACTING THE PLOT IN SOME WAY, either! Or--what’s this? FEMALE CHARACTERS ACTUALLY HAVING THE SPOTLIGHT FOR ONCE? Perish the thought!

The only good parts about this godforsaken arc are 1) Mei Hatsume 2) Hitoshi Shinso and 3) Izuku vs Todoroki fight and Todoroki’s Tragic Backstory Reveal. Everything else is hit-or-miss, if not completely hot garbage.

Anyways, thanks for coming to my TED Talk, and for reading this entire thing! Four for you, reader. You go, reader.

[4ragon]

if these are closed it’s fine but can you do Lang for the character analysis?

Nah, man, I’m always happy to ramble about these characters when I have the time.

I’m just going to come right out and say it, Lang was done so dirty by these games. Like I know I complain about how they handled Athena, but at least Athena takes a central role in DD and is present throughout SoJ. Lang plays a major role in THREE cases total, over two games! And that’s it! Like you can’t do this to me, you can’t present me with this fun, interesting character and give him nothing to do most of the time! It’s not fair!

But here’s the thing: despite that, Lang is memorable as hell. Like, he’s not given nearly enough time to shine, but he shines on anyway, because he’s Shi-Long Lang and he’s that fucking great. Lang is far and away one of the best parts of AAI, aside from maybe Kay. Everyone I know who’s played these games enjoyed the hell out of Lang for the short ride he was there for. He’s great, and he’s frustrating, and he has a kickass theme song, even if I’m not crazy about the harmonica version.

Lang as a character is so fun. He’s weird as hell, he has this whole wolf motif going on, he’s loud and brash and confident. He’s a really fun rival! Like, he and Miles have great chemistry, in part because I feel like they have so much in common, despite their differences being so pronounced. They’re both very stubborn people, and they both have strong senses of justice. They both care a lot about their jobs, and while they’re not friendly or trusting, once you’re in their good graces, they’re willing to do so much for you. But Lang is absolutely one of those “Act first think later” kind of people, while Miles is a much more careful man. Lang isn’t necessarily stupid, but he is very reckless and doesn’t really have his worldview challenged in any meaningful way until AAI.

And I know I just said he’s not particularly friendly, but that’s not completely true. He’s not friendly to the people outside his ‘pack’ but once you’re in, he’s loyal to a fault. I think it’s probably his greatest strength and greatest weakness. Like, who didn’t watch the scene with him demanding all of his subordinates think of themselves as number one and go “Oh! Okay, he’s actually a pretty cool dude.” And who didn’t feel for him when he was giving it his all to defend Shih-na from accusation. Like, of course what he’s doing and saying is ridiculous nonsense almost all of the time, seeing as he’s a ridiculous nonsense man, but that’s part of the charm! And it’s clear that his ‘pack’ all loves and respects him right back, even if he’s still a bit of a hardass with them. He’s hard working and passionate and cares about the people around him so deeply.

And I love seeing him grow to appreciate Miles’s perspective, and learn to start trusting in him, even if he’s still not sold on trusting prosecutors as a whole. He doesn’t exactly change as a person, he’s still this bizarre wolf man, but there’s still growth there, you know?

And I think that’s why it’s so disappointing that we never really get enough time to really explore him in as much depth as I would like. Honestly, I think part of that is just how Nothing the smuggling ring plot ends up being. It’s supposed to be his main motivation, this hugely important and insurmountable enemy that he’s fighting, but it has nothing to do with Lang’s internal struggles, or with his mistrust of prosecutors and Miles. Like, if you look at other main rivals, their character growth is inherently tied to the main plot of the game. Miles’s growth is tied to the anger, grief, and guilt that’s explored in that final case. Franziska’s growth is tied to her self perception and her views on perfection that get tested in that final case. But Lang’s growth I feel is almost incidental to the main plot. It has nothing to do with the smugglers, in part because most of the smuggler stuff outside of Shih-na is very boring.

We never really go that deeply into why he feels so responsible for the broken economy of Zheng-Fa. It’s his main goal, but it has nothing to do with the rest of the plot. And on one level, we the players can understand the importance of what Lang is trying to do, but I don’t think any of us can connect in a way that makes this struggle meaningful.

And then, as I’ve mentioned before, we never really get time to see how Shih-na’s betrayal affects him. I think that’s more important to his growth as a person than finally taking down the smuggler’s ring, or at least it’s the one that has the clearest implications. Like I said, he’s loyal to a fault, and a betrayal like that could easily be enough to shake the very foundations of who he is.

[Minor aai2 spoilers in this paragraph] Continuing on, we never get to explore how no longer having his men affects him in the sequel. His ties to his men was one of his defining feature, and while we can see that he’s unhappy about it, we never really get the chance to explore why. And then we never get to explore his feelings toward his father or toward Di-Jun Huang. We don’t get much closure with him in the Blaise Debeste situation either. We can see that there’s so much going on just below the surface, but he just sort of fades into the background.

I wish they did more with him in AAI2. I understand why they didn’t, and Justine and Sebastian both were such fantastic characters both as rivals and as characters in general, but Lang could’ve still been relevant! I don’t know how, but he could’ve! I guess I would’ve been happier with him in AAI2 if AAI had featured him throughout, but. Man, I don’t know.

Also, those sunglasses suck? They suck, right? Those are bad sunglasses. Sir, who told you those were good sunglasses? Was it Shih-na? Shih-na, why would you encourage him to wear those sunglasses? I can’t believe they were gunning to have Lang wear those fuckings double eye patches...

[247megamania]

Hey there!

I watched a YouTube video recently on the damsel in distress trope in video games and it got me thinking, so I thought I'd dump so my thoughts onto a page and stuff it in your face. Enjoy.

In many video games and stories, a woman is kidnapped to motivate a man to save her. This is a pretty overdone trope that is easy to do badly. It can imply that women are weak and always need the help of men. But if you reverse it by always having the woman save herself, it implies that women should be powerful and never need help. Women are not inherently weak or powerful. Women are people with traits who make choices.

If you have a woman get kidnapped or something equivalent in your story, think about her character and how she would react to the situation. Give her choices to make that affect the plot. Give her a character arc. She can be strong or weak or have feminine or masculine traits or all of the above, but she is a person and should be treated by the story as such.

Also consider: what was the purpose of the kidnapping within the story? Was it just to motivate a different character to embark on a heroic quest? Was it just to prove to the audience that the bad guys are really bad? Neither of these are bad things, but kidnapping plots can do more. They can help people learn about themselves, showcase a character's skills and resourcefulness, propel character growth and change, progress and change relationships, etc. Have your kidnapping plot do more than one thing. Make it earn it's place in the story. Not here to dictate how to write though, do what makes you happy with your writing.

Some other words:

Just as it is restrictive to tell girls they are weak and need to be saved, it is burdensome to tell them they must save themselves. It is wonderful to praise female characters who save themselves but it risks giving the message that women are expected to deal with their problems by themselves, that expecting help is wrong and it is their fault if they fail or get hurt. Just as everyone is their own person driving their own story with their own agency, everyone needs and deserves help sometimes. The phrase girl power liberates women to fulfill themselves to their entirety, but it can also give the impression that a woman must be powerful to be valid. As a woman who hates confrontation and is not ambitious, many of the themes of "girl power" made me feel like I didn't belong and that I was doing something wrong.

This goes the same for men. Men are not inherently strong or weak. They are people with traits who make choices and should be well rounded, fully realized characters in stories, just like women deserve to be.

In my experience, men and women tend to have different traits, and that's okay. However, a woman is not made less a woman by her embracing some traditionally masculine traits, and a man is not made less a man by him embracing some traditionally feminine traits. If my dad ever takes up knitting, he will be every inch the man that he always was. He'll just be cooler, because knitting is cool.

Anyway that's the end of my thought rant have a great night everyone. Please comment I like talking to people.

[lgbt-plusultra]

Why I liked the Provisional Licensing Exam Arc

(and why I’m surprised to see that so many people didn’t?)

The Set-up:

- actually makes sense

- like these kids have to go back to their ‘regularly scheduled programing’ at some point.

World-building:

- this one should be obvious, but we’re introduced to students from Shiketsu and Ketsubusu Academy. Not only that, but I feel that these respective schools were presented to viewers/readers in a very logical way. Of course, we can’t meet everyone – hell, we barely know who is in class 1b – but it does a lot to put the actual skill level of class 1a & UA as a whole into context.

- we also get to see a bit of Seiai Academy and Seijin High School, but, again, we aren’t burdened with trying to remember too many unnecessary characters or facts.

- the use of different uniforms for each new school also 1) makes sense and 2) makes it a lot easier for viewers/readers to keep up with all these new introductions. (plus the shiketsu uniforms are cool??? i love a good hat.)

- miss joke REMINDS YOU that UA isn’t the only school. fuck ya elitism

- we get to learn so much about the hero commission and how they’re adapting hero society to be more cooperative following All Might’s retirement???

- HUC is cool.

- putting UA at the bottom of the heap due to the airing of the sports festival again reminds us 1) how commercialized / relatively famous class 1a & UA are and 2) how hard it is to be a public figure and a hero (again, underground heroism – makes a lot of sense…)

- miss joke / aizawa having worked across from each other – yay, a bit of Aizawa backstory, also gives us information on what a long-term career in heroics might look like & the day-to-day of working at an agency

- NEW QUIRKS NEW QUiRKS NEW QUIIRKS

- establishes that Bakugo is like… kind of infamous. which is interesting, and makes a lot of sense at this point

- acknowledges that it’s weird that first years are taking this exam and helps underline how unstable hero society is getting. it makes sense that class 1a would be pushed into this exam so they can legally defend themselves (call back to uhh… every single arc except for the sports fest??)

Characterization:

- miss joke again gives Aizawa the opportunity to be the straight-man in a vaudeville comedy duo. Even more importantly, Aizawa gives us a lot of really good insight on how Deku & Bakugo’s hogwild competitiveness have changed class 1a and effectively raised the bar

- you could argue that this was heavy-handed, but Aizawa has always served as a kind of translator for the feelings of class 1a, especially for the more private members (like Bakugo.) Also, this is juxtaposed against Yaoyarozu/Jiro/Shoji/Asui’s team-up & and their own flash-backs, so overall I think it was done really fantastically??

- Iida and Aoyama’s interactions also served to play up how trusting 1A is, even between two members we haven’t really seen interact before. (This also plays off of Aoyama’s growing heroism/bravery that we saw at the end of the Joint Training Arc, so, sparkle baby!)

- Inasa/Todoroki’s interactions are very important. We’re reminded that since the sports festival, though Todoroki has made progress, he still has his own trauma to work through. We also see more of who he was, before properly meeting him during the sports festival arc

- This is something, if it’s not addressed later on, I didn’t like: Uraraka hasn’t had her growing/”eat shit” moment yet. However, it almost feels as if Hori is pointing that out, so I’m personally hopeful that this is part of the lead-up to more Uraraka characterization and the start to her own arc.

- we got to see Kaminari being competent. I love it.

- we got to see Kaminari/other kids in class 1a recognizing Bakugo’s quiet consideration of others & his growing teamwork abilities (even though they are still very much a work in progress)

- BAKUGO VALUES HONESTY

Carrying Over Those Themes!:

- judgemental Meatball Boy from Shiketsu really cleverly brings back how Stain’s ideology is inherently morally grey and influences upcoming villains just as much as heroes

- iida/aoyama’s team-up, yaoyarozu’s group, and Deku’s inner monologue call back to “is acting heroically something I’d be doing anyways? what are my inner motivations?” You could say it’s ‘nakama power’ because they come to the collective realization they all do what they do better when they’re doing it in service for others/their teammates, but damn, if that’s nakama power, it’s been played in a fresh as fuck way

- big reminder that half of being hero is saving people (it’s NOT just about winning battles, which is a MAJOR theme that we get a whole fucking MOVIE based off of and it’s talked about in Deku vs Kacchan 2 and ajsjksajk–) These kids are training to be first responders as well as battle machines and it’s hard!

- THEMES! OF! DECEIT! both with Shindou playing himself up as very open/friendly and like… everything to do with Camie

Juicy Plot-points:

- again, everything to do with Camie. which, might I add, was really fucking well done. It was foreshadowed/didn’t come out of left field, BUT, it wasn’t obvious either. Her pretending to be Uraraka was a really fucking nice fake-out

- and, ya know, a bunch of class 1a gets their licenses which is kind of necessary if things are going to continue as they have

- (say what you will about class 1a getting all of this special treatment/being punted through hero training at lightning speed, Hori recognizes this and provides pretty solid in-world reasons for it)

- Uraraka deciding to squash her ~feelings~ (which, again, feels like a loose plot-thread/came off as kind of weird, but I’m hoping it gets addressed later on & she gets more development)

- Todoroki, Bakugou, and Inasa fail. again, opportunities for growth. (adds onto the theme of “heroing involves cooperation and good bedside manners”) (builds onto Bakugou’s frustrations/inferiority complex)

Pacing:

- this arc was Absolutely Necessary for pacing

- set up Deku vs Kacchan 2 fantastically

Basically. This arc was pretty damn good. I guess it’s easy to point out things that were less fulfilling than usual because BnHA already sets such a high bar, but it’s still puzzling to see so many people complain about “post-Kamino BnHA”.

I suppose it’s true that it’s really weird that EVERYONE would pass, excluding Bakugo and Todoroki, especially considering that not everyone has had their own growth yet, and that having most all of class 1a pass doesn’t… Impact the story. But also… I was never really too invested in who passed – I feel that isn’t the point; I’m more interested in world building aspects and seeing who grows and who doesn’t.

[dontcountyourwords]

Wrath of the aftermath

In the aftermath of Amon’s attack on the arena, it is closed down. Asami invites Mako and Bolin to live with her, since they have nowhere to live now. Bolin also invites Korra over, since they are now more than just Fire Ferret buddies. We learn that Asami can fend for herself, and is a tough gal.

Cabbage Corp gets shut down after evidence is found that they support Amon. Whether they are framed or not, is not obvious. However, I am so glad they are called Cabbage Corp. The moment their name was dropped in the series I had to think of our beloved Cabbage man from ATLA, and I’m so glad they named this corp just for the sake of the joke. 

Anyway, Korra, understandably, is still very on edge after all that has happened. Thus, when she overhears Sato, Asami’s father, talking about having more time and striking, she instantly connects him with Amon. When the police comes to question him and investigate his factory, they find nothing. By the way, the way they conducted that search was extremely careless: they kept breaking open the boxes when they probably could have just opened them. What if Sato turned out to be innocent? Then they have inflicted all that damage to an innocent person. But I digress.

After they found nothing at the factory, Korra is given a slip of paper which reads to meet on a bridge. At this point, I was lightly surprised that Lin and Tenzin were willing to follow her to that lead, as the investigation has proven fruitless so far. The lead tips them off that Sato has a secret factory under his house, so they visit Sato’s house once more. 

There, we finally see Lin listen with her feet, finding that there is a secret tunnel under Sato’s workshop leading to his factory, where he builds for Amon. What is Sato’s motive? Years ago, the Agni Kai Triad (I think that’s their name, at least?) attacked his family and killed his wife, Asami’s mother. Ever since, he has harboured hate against all benders. Quite different from Jet in ATLA, who only hated the firebenders. Then again, at the time it was the Fire Nation terrorising everyone’s existence, so everyone else would have no choice but to team up. Now that the common threat has disappeared, the general difference between benders and non-benders bubbles up again, I suppose. 

Amon argues that it’s the benders that make everyone’s life suck. However, as we would all agree, there’s nothing about being a bender that makes you inherently suck. If no one could bend, those asshole benders would quite possibly still be bullies. 

Poor Asami, first she loses her mother to fire bending assholes, now she “loses” her father to the equalists; non-benders. I do have to wonder though, how come she holds no grudge against benders. Maybe we’ll find out. For now, it’s nice to see the gang getting to live together on Airtemple Island.

One last detail: Asami invited them over, and figured she’d ask later, and Korra first asked before inviting them. Cool difference in character. Cool potential growth on Korra’s side? A few episodes ago she would have simply invited them, no biggie. 

[mbti-notes]

P1) So I have this friend, an Enfp like me. For years she's been a dear friend of mine, and being of similar types have made us very easily get along. But now that we're growing older it feels like I'm in a different place in terms of Fi development, and her lack of development is starting to rub me the wrong way. During the time when we both started to get into Fi development, I started focusing on branching out and figuring out who I was, and she ended up in one relationship after another.

[con’t: The men were nice, and I'm not saying that being in relationships is a bad thing or is inherently detrimental to Fi. But now she's single, and says she feels listless, lonely. She says she seeks out men of status to make her feel accomplished but then either ends up losing interest or they break it off. I've been giving her advice to generate self interest, instead of seeking out interest solely in other people, to pursue her passions, and for a bit it seemed like she was taking my advice. 

But recently I've seen a... I don't know if it's a different version of unhealthy Fi, or whether it truly is a problem with me. If it is me, I would like to fix it. She seems to kind of assume my motives based off of what she herself is feeling. For example, if she feels insecure about something she'll act on the assumption that I'm judging her. I will be completely clueless to the fact that she thinks this until one of her actions based off of that assumption ends up being hurtful. When I come back and tell her that her actions are hurtful and based on false premises, she doesn't apologize, and despite saying that she loves me regardless, says that she feels I'm kind of a judgy person so that's why she assumed. I try my level best to be a non-judgemental person, given that I'm quite aware that people come from all sorts of life experiences and backgrounds, and I've had friends tell me it's one of my better qualities. 

There are times when I do say I can't condone a course of action (because it will hurt someone else or cause problems) and I have had someone break a friendship with me over that before. That person I've been told was toxic and manipulative, and later on I've heard that she herself thought she mightve been wrong. So I've assumed that what she said might not have been true. My family teases me about me being rigid on my morals, but apart from that no one has really mentioned it to me before. I know that being judgy could be a unhealthy trait from Fi, but I have the feeling that my close friend might be having an unhealthy Fi instead. 

So I suppose my questions are: am I indulging in unhealthy Fi traits? If so, how should I fix it? If she's the one being unhealthy, how so and how would you advise me to react? As I said, she's a dear friend of mine of many years. I know there've been times that I've been shitty that she's patiently guided me and times I've been behind where she's waited for me to catch up, so in this case I don't want to leave her behind. I know that I can't get her to change if she doesn't want to, (especially now that she feels that I'm being judgemental I don't want to press) but how do I react to someone with an unhealthy Fi while asserting my boundaries?]

When you’ve been friends with someone for a long time, especially if many of those years were formative years, it’s natural for the relationship to carry a lot of baggage - they become more like a family member than a friend. That “baggage” can be a blessing and a curse. It’s nice to have someone who’s known you so well and so long. They’re able to put you in context, they’re able to reflect back to you how you have or haven’t changed for the better, and the bond between you is strong due to all the shared experiences. On the negative side, baggage means that there exist some unresolved issues, problems that float around in the background, pain or resentment that gets swallowed for fear of rocking the boat too much, etc. Try to remember the positive when things get negative.

As a general rule, when an unhealthy dynamic between two people forms, both people feed into it in some way, otherwise it wouldn’t continue to get worse over time. Avoid trying to label one person as the only source of the problem. It’s not a case of either/or:

1) I believe that your friend is indeed having difficulty with Fi development, which is HER business to handle. It sounds like she uses men as a means to paper over low self-esteem, which is a manifestation of Te loop that gets in the way of Fi development. What she chooses to do is part of her journey of growth (or lack of growth as the case may be). You have to let her make her own mistakes and learn from them, just as I’m sure you wouldn’t appreciate always being told what to do as though you’re stupid. This reminds me of an old song that goes something like: “If I make mistakes, they’re MY mistakes, and I cherish them as part of MY story.” You may believe that you know better than her about how to develop Fi, but perhaps you forget that an important part of being FP is that you have to honor your own story. You can’t live someone else’s story, i.e., betray Fi, and then hope to have healthy Fi in the end. Sometimes, honoring your own story means taking paths that others wouldn’t and falling flat on your face.

2) I also believe that your friend is defensive partly because you have been somewhat judgmental, which is YOUR business to handle. Even if you don’t say it out loud, people can sense disapproval, especially NFs. With your voice in her ear, I’m sure she has some awareness that her behavior is problematic. However, if you keep reminding her of this, what you’re doing is exacerbating the shame and guilt that she feels for “slipping”. You’re asking her to do what’s right, which is what Fi would do, but remember that you may also be asking her to do something that she is not yet ready or ABLE to do - this is how the line gets crossed. 

When you keep reminding FPs that they’re unable to do something, it doesn’t help them - it only makes them feel incompetent. If they feel that way long enough, it affects their self-esteem, which further exacerbates the feeling of incompetence in a vicious cycle. From here, she starts to assume things about your motives, as she projects her own sense of inadequacy. No one likes to feel less than. If you want to give advice, make sure that it’s wanted and appropriate for her level of competency. Most importantly, advice should be given lovingly, i.e., it should always be obvious that you are doing it from a place of care and empathy rather than a place of moral judgment. Avoid language that implies something about her moral character and focus more on the actions/consequences. You can’t speak such that you never offend anybody, but you can always check and recheck your own intentions to make sure that you’re speaking from the heart rather than the finger.

Sometimes, healing a relationship means stepping back a bit to let things cool down, such that you are able to return with fresher eyes. There’s a time for encouraging your friend, there’s a time for telling them the truth, and there’s a time for leaving them alone. It’s not always easy to decide the best option because the other person may not even know what it is they really need from you, if anything. At least she’s letting you know in no uncertain terms that she doesn’t need or want your judgment. To me, this raises the question of what she does need from you. It seems that you don’t know, because every time you try to intervene, you’re not helping her in any discernible way. If the people close to you are implying that you’re judgy, it’s something to pay attention to. It means that you’re either not approaching “helping” with the right intention or you’re not expressing your desire to help in the right way. Something that I often have to remind Fi types of is that “helping” is ultimately about the other person, not just about you satisfying your own moral imperatives. If you forget this, you may easily overstep and disrespect the other person’s boundaries due to imposing your values on them.

ENFPs love to discuss the things that are important to them. They love to explore new ideas and possibilities. But if the only reason you’re engaging in the discussion is to try to “lead” her into agreeing with your way of judging the situation, she’ll know, and she’ll close up, because you’re being disingenuous. In essence, being “judgy” might mean that you are imposing your idea of what Fi development is onto her, instead of helping her to discover the best ways of reaching healthy Fi on her own terms, at her own pace, in her own way - assuming that Fi development is still something that she wants. 

It’s easy to spot problems in people, but it’s a lot harder to come up with the most appropriate solution. Like it or not, these men are fulfilling a need in her life, and this can easily turn into a form of addiction, with withdrawal symptoms and all that jazz. The longer someone carries on a pattern, the harder it is to break. What exactly is the need that she’s attempting to fill? Where does that need come from, why does it exist in that form, or why is it such an urgent matter to her that she’s unable to give up her pattern of serial dating? Is there a better or healthier method to address the need... a method that she is capable of carrying out? If there is a competency problem, what is the best way to address it? These are the questions that you should ask, if you want to understand her well enough to tackle the problem constructively. And you may not get the answers until you approach her at the right time, in the right way.

[winterskywrites]

Hey, darling, what do you think about Lena Luthor? Like, she IS absolutely brilliant, super gorgeous, powerful and so cool, and she absolutely doesn't deserve that toxic and manipulative family, but the writers could already started the process to her get better of that trust issues. It's hard for anyone be understanding and patient all the time, especially when the other person doesn't do the same thing for you. I hope she gets better, cause she deserves to be happy.

Honestly, my feelings towards Lena, at least at the moment, are not nearly as positive as yours seem to be. At the moment, I firmly believe that she’s acting like a villain. I’m putting the rest of my response under a cut, but please be warned that it’s not particularly Lena friendly.

(And anon, please know that my response is not trying to attack you; I’m only trying to answer your question.)

Edit - I misinterpreted parts of the original message; the clarification is here.

So, here’s the thing about Lena: She seems fairly incapable of seeing morality in shades of gray. With Lena, you’re either with her or you’re against her; you’re either good, or you’re evil. (And Lena tends to be somewhat self-obsessed, so if you’re against her, you’re also probably evil.) We’ve seen this with her multiple times, but her current conflict with Kara is probably the best example of it. Kara didn’t tell her that she was Supergirl (which was one hundred percent Kara’s choice, I will die on that hill), and now Lena is convinced that Kara was never her friend at all and that Kara was never really that good a hero in the first place. Even after Kara did tell Lena her identity at the beginning of the season, as well as an explanation of why she hadn’t done it previously, Lena is completely unswayed. Kara “betrayed” her, so thus Kara is against her, so thus Kara is bad.

Now, I’m not saying that it’s a bad thing to feel upset when you feel that someone doesn’t trust you. However, in this situation, you also need to take the other person’s intentions into account, and this is something that Lena doesn’t seem willing or capable of doing. We can look at her relationship with Andrea as an example here: Andrea took the medallion and lied to Lena about it, which seems like a betrayal on the surface, but we know that she did it to save her father. When Lena learns this, it doesn’t seem to change her opinion on Andrea at all. She still thinks that Andrea betrayed her, and she still seems to consider that an inexcusable offense. Even when Andrea apologizes to her in tears, Lena still continues with her plan to manipulate her. Again, this is an example of Lena’s black and white thinking - Andrea betrayed her, so thus she’s bad, full stop, despite any reasoning she may have had.

The real reason that this black and white view of morality is a problem is that Lena is using it as an excuse for her Non Nocere project, which is, in my opinion, flat out morally wrong. Lena wants to use her technology to manipulate other people’s minds without their consent. She kidnapped Eve and used her technology to override her entire mind, and then kidnapped Ma’alefa’ak and used his powers against him. She planned to broadcast Non Nocere worldwide using Myriad, thus mind-controlling the entire world. She’s been working with Lex, perhaps the worst villain in the entire Arrowverse, to come up with a way to block people from feeling emotions that she deems bad. She used Non Nocere to remove feelings of injustice and framed that like it was a good thing. What Lena’s doing is wrong. She’s allowed to feel however she feels regarding Kara and Andrea, but she can’t use those feelings to justify doing evil, and Non Nocere is, in my opinion, evil.

Now, I am aware that Lena had an awful childhood and that many her reactions can be traced back to that, but while that might explain them, it does not excuse them. Like you said, Lena doesn’t deserve her toxic and manipulating family, because absolutely no one deserves that, but that doesn’t make what she’s doing okay. The fact that Lena has experienced trauma does not mean she can do whatever she wants without consequences. I don’t really agree that the writers have started the process of her getting better with her trust issues; I don’t really think there’s been much growth there at all, and any growth that Lena may have had in the past seasons has been lost in this current one. Of course, working through issues like hers is often not a linear process, but it seems like, as of season five, Lena has lost any desire or motivation to work through her trust issues, and that’s a problem. What Lena really needs right now is therapy (like Kara suggested to her earlier in the season), but to make that work, you need to accept that you have a problem and be willing to work through it, and to me, it doesn’t seem like Lena fulfills either criterion.

You said, “It’s hard for anyone be understanding and patient all the time, especially when the other person doesn’t do the same thing for you.” I absolutely agree with the sentiment, but I don’t think it particularly applies to Lena. I don’t feel like Lena has ever put that much effort into being understanding and patient, and I think that her friends tend to put much more effort into it than she does. Honestly, I think the character who best exemplifies this idea is Kara, who is always understanding and patient, sometimes to her own detriment, even when the other person puts absolutely no effort into doing the same. It took Kara weeks to stop begging Lena to forgive her, and even now, Kara seems entirely willing to forgive Lena for everything that she’s done if Lena even indicates that she wants such a thing. I think Lena is the one who needs to be more understanding and patient more than perhaps any other character on the show (other than the die-hard villains like Lex and Leviathan, of course).

You described Lena as, “absolutely brilliant, super gorgeous, powerful and so cool.” I don’t really disagree with any of those points, but none of them are inherently good things. Lena is brilliant, but she’s currently using her brilliance to come up with a way to manipulate people’s minds. Lena is gorgeous, but that has no correlation with her being a good or bad person. Lena is powerful, but again, she’s using her power to do things that are morally wrong. (I don’t care what Lex said, I’m not convinced that those prisoners from a jail owned by the Luthors decided to be test subjects entirely of their own free will without any outside influence.) And Lena can be pretty cool, but again, that doesn’t make her good. I also hope that Lena gets better, because I do like the prevailing theme on Supergirl that no one is ever fully beyond redemption, and I also think that she deserves to be happy, because I think everyone deserves at least the chance to be happy, but Lena is currently one of the villains of this season, and if she’s going to be anything else, she needs to put some serious work into her redemption.

Basically, tl;dr, Lena has a very black and white view of morality, and she’s using that as an excuse to do things that are morally wrong, like Non Nocere. While her issues don’t make her a villain on their own, the way she’s choosing to react to them does. Lena is not beyond redemption, but she is currently a villain.

[warwaged-archive]

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm. tagged by: @theharellan ty so much! tagging: if you read this entire post I’m tagging you

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless / complicated 

Is your character popular in the fandom? YES / NO. Velanna is minor enough there isn’t a lot of talk about her either way (and I get it, given she’s a dlc character from Origins it’s understandable not as many people even know her), but I definitely see more dislike towards her than appreciation.

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. Honestly do not know! I have seen Debates about her personality and actions, but I don’t recall seeing people comment on her looks.

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. Not particularly as far as I’ve seen, though I haven’t seen people say she’s weak either. Tbf given her introduction has you investigating murders that no one seems to think were caused by a single person and she literally turns a forest against those who pass through it, I think it’s hard to deny she is strong, though.

Are they underrated?  YES! / NO / IDK. Like I said, there’s very little talk about her at all, and very little appreciation. Velanna deserves more love c’:

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO. She isn’t relevant for the story of any of the main games, given she isn’t even in any of them askdjfnskndf She is relevant to Awakening’s story, given she causes some trouble on the road to Amaranthine, and that’s how you meet her. You can kill her on that encounter, though, so for the rest of it she’s not essential (but killing her is boring guys why would you)

Were they relevant for the main character? YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG. In a way, since she’s causing some of the problems the Warden-Commander has to solve. Other than that, it truly depends on how you play it.

Are they widely known in their world? YES / NO. Nope. Just a Dalish gal who became a Grey Warden.

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL. I lean towards neutral because Velanna isn’t a widely discussed character either way, but I would say it leans towards bad. Many people dislike her actions, and many more dislike her for her harsh ways towards the PC in the beginning (a non-dalish PC, that is). Velanna is very opinionated and angry and a lot of people seem to think that makes her annoying. A bad take imo but I think that’s pretty obvious dkfasndkfjanskdfjn

How strictly do you follow canon?  — For the most part I follow it, only expanding it for what we haven’t seen and filling the blanks. 

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —  I don’t know how to sell her to others so I will just talk a bit about what made her interesting to me. When you meet her, she’s so angry she’s been terrorizing the road and nearby villages so much people don’t even know what (what, not who) is responsible for the bloodshed. If you don’t bother to get to know her, it’s easy to think she’s just the anger, but if you do, eventually you learn a lot that might not justify her actions but makes them understandable, and that she’s so much more than Angry™. Velanna cares so much! For the Dalish, and preserving their magic and culture; for her clan, in spite of the fact her sister was the only friend she ever had; for her Keeper, even though they parted on bad terms; for Seranni, even after she chooses to leave with the Darkspawn instead of leaving with her. She’s outspoken and a great defender of her people, but not in a blind or arrogant way, and not in a way that causes her to inherently resent humans (it’s not history that causes that, but her own experience with having humans act violent against her clan and prefer to destroy the land to drive them away than attempt peaceful coexistence). She’s not driven by personal retribution, but by a relentless pursuit of justice that indeed is twisted into something more akin to vengeance. She acts on anger but she learns to be better. She’s been an outcast all her life, well before becoming the only Dalish in her group of Wardens, and she learned to be harsh to defend herself. She’s not easy to love, but she’s capable of loving deeply, and her loyalty to those dear to her is unwavering. She can be harsh because she’s so used to keeping people away in self defense, even if she’s lonely, even if it’s clear all it takes to get past that is treating her with kindness and respect. Velanna has a good heart, but that doesn’t mean she’s only capable of good.

In game, her growth depends on the PC of course, but the way I see it (and write her) there is no reason why her connections to other characters, such as Sigrun and Nathaniel, wouldn’t be just as important for it. They allow her to see beyond her anger, to move past her resent, and to stop judging people as if they were all equally bad. She goes from someone terrorizing humans in a forest and nearby road to someone who selflessly stands to defend them, even should it cost her own life. She goes from joining the Wardens as a means to finding her sister to actually taking on the role and its duties, not just as in fighting the darkspawn, but in being a protector.

And the way she values history, but not just the actual facts, the tales and legends and culture, how she understands their place as something of great importance definitely helped a lot in endearing her to me. According to Velanna, "Stories connect us to our past. They shape a people in profound ways. Without them, we are lost.” and I think about that a lot you know? It really gets to me c’:

Also she’s an awesome powerful mage who could and has killed a man (uh many men actually) but who blushes and stutters if you call her pretty because what are compliments she is not prepared to deal with those

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  — Velanna killed people so she’s evil and deserves no forgiveness ever (which isn’t always similarly applied to other characters BUT ANYWAYS). She’s angry and mean towards the protagonist and because of that she’s not cool. She’s whining about the Dalish all the time too so she’s just annoying. Also I never tried to talk to her and often don’t even leave her alive after the Wending Wood. aidsnfkajsdnfkjn seriously though, I can see why people might not like her, as she isn’t made to be likable initially and you gotta get past that to get to the more interesting bits. Velanna is indeed very much tied to her Dalish background, as it is not only her culture and origin, but also a great motivator for her actions, and often even the means through which you get to know her, so if you’re not interested in the Dalish I guess she wouldn’t be an interesting character (but imo, it’s only natural her culture is so important to who she is, given her background and her own feelings about her people. she’s so proud of her heritage, even if being part of that people makes her a target for no other reason than prejudice. even then, she’s so proud of it and so ready to fight for and defend her people and speak and stand for them! I just love her a lot but ok I realize I should be talking about why people might not like her so let’s get back to that). She’s not funny, she’s not friendly, and she’s actually rather angry and outspoken, and I feel like that ends up pushing her to the more ‘controversial’ side instead of being part of the popular or likable characters.  

What inspired you to rp your muse?  —  Literally just played Awakening and ended up like OH I WANNA WRITE ONE OF THEM and I wasn’t sure about who. It wasn’t clear to me, at least, so I ended up thinking about them and at first I was like hm maybe Nathaniel, but it didn’t feel right even though he was the first one I thought I wanted to write. So I thought about Velanna, and the more I thought about her the more invested I became so I was like yeah that’s the one and added her here aksjdnfkjasndf

The first thing that got me really invested in her while playing was the conversation you have with her when you gift her the diary. I just really love her talking about the Dalish and preserving what they have and how important and meaningful stories are. That said, the moment I met her in the Wending Wood I immediately wanted to get to know her. 

I’m just a big fan of elves in case you guys haven’t noticed yet asksjnfsjkdnfkdjfn

What keeps your inspiration going?  —  replaying DA, but specially Awakening, Dragon Age content in general, discussing her with others (talking about my muses is always very helpful to me in that sense), and honestly, others being interested on her too. Discussions about the Dalish or headcanons or other people discussing Dragon Age and their respective characters also help my motivation too tbh! I’m always the slowest to answer to anything, but that’s just how I always am. Those are all things that keep my love for her alive, and thus great part of my inspiration for her.

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO / I TRY!

Do you frequently write headcanons?  YES / NO / SORT OF? when the inspiration hits I literally cannot shut up

Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO. I’m usually more about them 5 page headcanons and threads and ask answers than drabbles 

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day? YES / NO. she lives in my head rent free (as do most if not all of my muses tbh askdfnaksdf)

Are you confident in your portrayal? YES / NO / SORT OF?

Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO / SOMETIMES. Depends but not usually askndfkajs

Are you a sensitive person?  YES / NO / SORTA.

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?  —  Depends on what that criticism is and if I asked for it? aksjdfnkjfn I do ask about my portrayals sometimes, and in that case I’m open to constructive criticism --- if there’s something you think I could do better and you can explain why in a nice way, I’ll definitely listen (though I may disagree, so there’s that). But if it comes down to rudeness or ‘you’re not writing her like I think she is’ then well that’s not my problem, I write her how I understand and interpret her. 

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?  —  I LOVE THEM! Send me questions about my muses literally any time I absolutely love them!! 

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?  —  Depends, again. I’m not against discussing it, hearing what other people have to say and why they disagree (and if they say they disagree, I’d probably want to know why), but ultimately, again, it’s my portrayal so it might just be a case of seeing things differently. Like I said, I don’t mind discussing it, though. 

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?  —  As to this, I just honestly expect people to act the same way I act when I disagree with someone’s portrayal, which is just moving on with my life and not interacting kasjafksdnfjk

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?  —  Depends. They don’t have to like the character, but if it influences IC interactions or if it’s just people who hate a character getting off of bashing them through IC interactions even if it doesn’t make sense that’s a no for me. I don’t like seeing people hating on characters I love, but people are free to do post what they will. If there’s a tag and I can block it that’s fine by me, if it isn’t tagged I’m likely to unfollow.

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?  —  If it’s done politely I don’t mind. English is not my first language and learning about errors is a way to improve, to me.

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?   —  I think? For the most part? I do tend to get defensive over characters I love and asks that aren’t clear in tone and come across not so nicely (OOC asks, I mean), but other than that I think I’m pretty chill? Idk though you guys tell me aksnkajdsfnkjan

[freddyfreebat]

Jack Dylan Grazer’s interview with HERO Magazine

[In] a far step from his first appearance on stage at six years old, during which he adopted a British accent and warbled out an opera ballad, [Jack Dylan] Grazer is currently gearing up for his role in Luca Guadaginino’s upcoming HBO series, We Are Who We Are, a love story set on an American military base in Italy.

Lindsey Okubo: Let’s start by talking about the on-set chemistry between you, Zach [Levi] and Asher [Angel] in Shazam! It was amazing to watch and I imagine that the influences you have on set play a large role in your life. How has your understanding of yourself been influenced by the roles you’ve played? Jack Dylan Grazer: Oh for sure, I think that if I wasn’t living through the opportunities that I have with acting... Oh my god, I’d be a mess. I would be all over the place [laughs]. This is my outlet. This is my world. I tried doing sports when I was little and it just didn’t work for me and then I started doing theatre and was like, this is my tribe, this is where I belong, this is my niche. To live in these fantasy worlds has been so cool because when I was growing up, I used to dress up as Captain Hook or Batman and do little scenes in the mirror. I just enjoyed living through these characters. Lindsey: You must feel a certain level of freedom as you disassociate from who you are? Jack: Yeah, it’s so liberating. Some people choose to bottle thing up, but for me, being on a stage or in front of the camera is freedom. Being someone else is really just me being me in a weird way, it’s who I am, it’s living out loud, which I’ve been doing my whole life.

Lindsey: Yeah, and growing up nowadays we really do have larger platforms to express ourselves, to live out loud and actually be heard compared to past generations. Jack: It’s definitely easier to speak your truth, be your real self, choose your destiny and not have a pre-orchestrated future. It’s easier to carve your own path because people are more understanding – or more empathetic. Lindsey: Are there ever any moments where you do feel vulnerable in those instances? With acting, you really have to open yourself up and be in tune with your emotions in a way that most people aren’t, it’s your livelihood. Jack: Totally. But when you surpass that wall of being afraid, of being vulnerable, you’ll find there’s comfort there. With acting, you’re also this other character and you get to speak your so-called “truth” through his character who may or may not be similar to you. Lindsey: Right, but how do you then fend off moments of doubt when you’re stretching your understanding of yourself? It’s the thought process of like, I know who I am, but how do I become someone else? Jack: Of course there’s going to be doubt, but when you know that you have the capability then it’s easier. You have to have some kind of empathy for your character and an understanding of why they’re doing what they’re doing. A while ago I watched this interview with actor Steve Railsback, who is this super nice hippie dude, but he played Charles Manson in Helter Skelter (1976). Charles was a sickening human but Steve was like, “I can understand why my character does what he does. I can convince myself of his motives.” That’s a tough thing to do but it’s just that, it’s convincing yourself of your character’s motives instead of holding onto your own. Lindsey: Going back to what you were saying earlier about our generation being able to empathise to a greater extent, I’m wondering how do you differentiate between understanding and empathising? Jack: Empathy is putting yourself in the person’s shoes and comprehending the outcomes, while understanding is like, okay, I get where you’re coming from but I’m not going to fully go there. Lindsey: Do you ever feel suffocated by the fame while still figuring out who you are? Jack: Originally I felt, yeah, kind of suffocated, but what really grounded me was school and the fact that it’s super important to me. I plan on going to college and if I start thinking of school as a necessity, like brushing my teeth, or taking a shower, then it’s not as big of a thing. I do my final take on set and then it’s back to school. I never want to neglect it. Lindsey: That’s funny because I feel like now more than ever, people are questioning the importance of the schooling system – where does school become important for you and what value do you see in it now? Jack: Education in any field informs your art because there are always so many references to draw from, it’s so useful and I myself applying these when it comes to acting or anything creative. Subject-wise, I’m super into English, history and world civ, but it doesn’t need to be drawing from school directly, it can just be life experiences because I like to know a bit about the character and what that kind of person they are. Lindsey: Right, but there’s also something to be said about the people we are learning from. What makes a good teacher to you? Jack: I think it’s important when a teacher focuses on each student individually, instead of teaching students as a whole. It’s important to understand everyone has different learning capabilities, everyone learns at a different pace and has a different process. Lindsey: Taking that a step further and applying it to your own career, you’ve spoken about wanting to direct and write... Jack: Yeah I definitely want to extend into other creative factions – I want to stay in this environment and industry because it’s what I love. The cool thing about my experiences on set is that I’ve always been able to apply my own creative input. Like on It, me and Finn [Wolfhard] were always coming up with stuff. The majority of the dialogue between him and I was improvised and Andy [Muschietti], our director, was super fantastic about that. Lindsey: That’s cool. What do you think is the inherent power of storytelling? Jack: I think it’s the ultimate entertainment. It’s so vast, there are a multitude of conduits that go into telling a story and there are so many ways in which to be a storyteller. I’m equally interested in both telling the story and being a character in the narrative. On set, we’re all building the story as open, it’s a team, an ensemble. That being said, I think the key to being a good director is being flexible and doing away with the formalities, to allow for free reign. Lindsey: And it’s also about having trust in the people that you’re working with. I feel like that can be a difficult thing when so many of us have our walls up – how do you begin to break them down through storytelling? Jack: I’ve worked with actors before where I’ll be in a scene with them and they’ll be trying to flex their jawline to look good for the camera when it’s a serious scene. That’s great, but if you’re there in the body of that character, in that moment he wouldn’t be flexing [laughs]. It’s that self-aware thing where it’s like, “Wow, how good does my jawline look right now?” There are levels to it. For instance on social media, I’m a pretty open book but there are things I won’t share because it’s not other people’s business. I keep it lighthearted, I keep it easy, not because I want to make it seem like the life of Jack Dylan Grazer is all fun and games but it’s like, what’s the point in sharing if that’s not my purpose? I think my current purpose is to entertain and that’s what I want to do. My goal is to be funny, to be moving, to be storyteller. Lindsey: Does entertaining ever get tiresome for you to the point where you feel like you’re always performing instead of just being? Jack: I guess sometimes. But I really do feel at home performing. I remember the first time I ever went on stage to do a play, I was six, doing a British accent, singing opera and I found myself. I was like, I can’t do anything but this, I won’t allow myself to do anything but this. Now I’m here and have realised that I want to stretch myself – and sometimes it does get tiring to entertain. Humour is my number one trait, I like making people laugh – that’s my favourite thing. Lindsey: To what extent is sharing that creativity for yourself? Jack: If you’re a creative person and you’re confident in that, then it’s better to be open about it and express it to people who you feel you can share it with. I’m not saying show it off to the world if you don’t want to, but be proud of yourself and have assurance in yourself. There are always flaws in creativity but it’s all part of the art. It’s different for everybody, but for me, I love showing off what I do. Lindsey: Does it have anything to do with needing validation at the same time or are you past that point? Jack: I don’t know if it’s validation. I guess the simplest way to put it is that I’m just proud of what I do and if someone’s like, “Oh, it’s shitty,” I’m like, “Oh, okay, cool, I don’t care.” Unless it’s intelligent, constructive criticism of course. Lindsey: How do you define personal growth? Jack: You’re never done evolving. It’s pretty hard to detect when you’ve reached your full potential, which is like the blood of everything we do, it’s how we operate. By having dedication, commitment and discipline you’re able to access your ability and that’s my ultimate goal, as a human being and as an artist.

[self-loving-vampire]

About the D&D Drama

I don’t really have much to say about this since I prefer older editions of the game and, with it being a tabletop, you can just not include anything you don’t want to.

What I do find weird is the assumption being made that the “evil races” like drow were less complex than the “good races” like humans due to the inherently evil nature they had in older editions.

Having actually read a couple of 3.5 books dealing with the drow (most notably Drow of the Underdark), I can say that they are actually extremely interesting and unique. They have a strange, pseudo-anarchic and matriarchal society that worships a spider demon and is this bizarre mix of traditionalist and innovative.

I recommend reading the book to get a better feel for what I mean, but basically I feel like the authors made something that is enhanced by how alien and bizarre it is from a human perspective.

Even their psychology is something that seems interesting to explore and roleplay with. Drow, as presented in that book, view interactions as inherently hierarchical and find it difficult to treat others as equals, making everything into a dominant/submissive dynamic where all value is assigned based on usefulness and life is not considered to have any inherent value.

Their society does not resemble any real life human culture that I know of.

 The book also brings this up:

And this is a question that has a lot of potential for cool dramatic arcs and character growth.

Is the drow PC trapped in a cycle of abuse that has caused them to devalue life? Can they learn to overcome it? How will they learn to be a better person? What can change their nature?

These are the kinds of questions I absolutely love. These are questions that can motivate a thousand characters while still remaining fresh. I like to poke at them when playing undead characters (who are also meant to have evil instincts).

To me, drow have always been really cool, interesting, and complex. I think something of value would be lost if they became just another variation of normal human values and morality (which D&D already has a tendency to center as correct by default).

Let fantasy races be weird, and let them have values that deeply conflict with what we consider good.

[deniigi]

I could literally talk about Murderdock ALL DAY, istg. There’s just so much to unpack with him. I love how he’s got that whole spiel about how he could burn his criminal empire completely to the ground and then get it back because no one could stop him — and the underlying truth that he still feels trapped because no matter how much power he acquires he’s still under the Hand’s thumb. And his relationship with Gwen is so tied to that — either she loses to him and proves it’s not his fault (1/2)

Wow, this is super cool analysis of Murderdock’s character; it’s funny how most other versions of Matt are focused on him being a ‘man without fear’ when inherent to that identity is the fact that he is motivated in great deal by fear.

Murderdock is a version of this which isn’t simultaneously pursuing an ‘overcoming those fears through X heroic trait’ narrative.

Instead, he’s left to stew in it. And so his story really shows what would happen if Matt didn’t have a support group of people around him helping him to understand different perspectives and expand his horizons.

He’d become immobilized, or rather, he’d immobilize himself to the point that moving forward or even backward would become nearly impossible. No growth at all, i.e. maintaining the status is the safest way to go for Murderdock I suppose, but the world is constantly changing and so he’s not allowed to do that, which probably drives his sense of defensiveness even more.

This is kind of why, when I think of Murderdock, I always think of him being very slow to adapt to certain types of change. Change going on around him, business-wise or professionally? That’s fine; he’d hardwired to be adaptable in a strategic sense like that. But personally? As in, with the routines he has when he gets off of work and the things that he allows into his home--when those things are interrupted by anything (DA Nelson, Lola, Gwen, etc) he starts to get upset and flustered and anxious.

idk where this is going, friend but I think it’s a very interesting thing to think about!