#in lelouch's narrative

[sleepless-winter-nights]

Doomed siblings from anime

They really deserve better.

I also plan to make part 2 of it so if you guys have any ideas then pls share

Btw should I also make a book version of it???

I also posted this in my insta @wintery falls

[frigidlyauthorial]

code geass has definite flaws worthy of criticism but I will go down forever with the opinion that the Euphemia moment at the R1 finale was perfectly written and a brilliant addition to the show. People who say that it just happened for shock value and didn’t make sense for the characters are objectively incorrect. I can’t believe people think it’s bad just because it’s [checks notes] a tragic and shocking event in the tragedy and shock show.

[skania]

Oshi no Ko is so frustrating. I have the biggest Akane brainrot, but her character is so intrinsically tied to Aqua's that I can't write Akane meta without it ending up aquakane lmao 😭

[cherryisagamer]

Clavis ch6 (part 1) - A party of conspiracies

"organized, order, aestheticly pleasing, normal"? yep definitely isn't Clavis's work

SIR YOU'RE KILLING ME BUT KEEP GOING

*head on the ground* I'm so, so sorry, Cyran. I've dissapointed you yet again ��‍♀️

BARRANDE?? *tan tan taaaan* well, considering Luke's route, ofc he's here

honestly, as someone who isn't much of a drinker, I actually appreciate it. I can go for wine with water and sugar tho, it's called "sangria"

MC's roasts are everything to me

don't guilt-trip me into this, Clavis. Hell is already full of good intentions...

[homoeroticbetrayal]

Iconic Homoerotic Betrayal: Round 2

Round 2 Directory

Context:

Lelouche/Suzaku

Summary by Anonymous Contributor

szll is already iconic but I'm just going to list all their betrayals (and perceived betrayals) as a refresher:

(first, for context, one thing you gotta understand is lelouch, leader of the rebellion who believes ends justify the means, is also the discarded prince of the empire he's fighting against. suzaku, rising knight of the empire who believes means have to justify the ends, is the son and killer of the prime minister of the country being oppressed. this is PEAK narrative foils and enemies-to-lovers recipe right there.)

- lelouch and nunnally were sent to japan as political hostages. britannia takes over japan quickly after and lelouch, knowing how much japan means to suzaku, promises to destroy britannia. suzaku should be angry at britannia! lelouch will free them!! except years later he learns that suzaku is now WORKING for the empire? he's becoming a KNIGHT for the empire, betraying his own country and their shared hatred for britannia. what the fuck, what happened to principles, suzaku? this is lelouch's first (perceived) betrayal.

- lelouch (accidentally) kills euphemia, the only princess who's trying to make peace with the japanese, the princess that suzaku is knight of, the princess suzaku LOVES and lelouch adores. now yes, this was an accident, but lelouch ROLLS WITH IT and lets suzaku and the rest of the world believe that it was intentional, thus fully driving that knife deep. he never tells suzaku this was an accident. this is suzaku's most painful betrayal.

- suzaku finds out lelouch is zero, leader of the rebellion, and turns him in to his evil dad, emperor of the empire, in exchange for becoming a knight of round (the highest military status). now if you count akito the exiled as canon, this also means sending lelouch to be BRAINWASHED into serving the empire as a master tactician before R2 happens. suzaku monitors him all throughout, watching lelouch destroy nations and praise the empire against his own principles.

this is just season one of code geass. this doesn't even touch how suzaku is also forced to betray his own loyalties/principles sometimes whenever the "live" geass that lelouch condemns him with acts up. how suzaku would monitor lelouch and keep deceiving him that rolo is his beloved sibling, not nunnally. etc etc.

AND YET despite all of this, code geass culminates with them SWEARING LOYALTY to each other, with lelouch becoming the demon emperor and suzaku becoming his right-hand man, the knight of zero. lelouch becomes a tyrant that suzaku is destined to kill. lelouch brings peace to the world but will never be able to live in it. he will always be remembered as the dictator, the scourge of the world. suzaku atones for all his sins by being reduced to a heroic symbol, by being punished to kill his best friend and never becoming suzaku the person ever again. with the "live" geass, he is cursed to never die, never to escape, always bearing both of their sins -- the eternal punishment he has been seeking. and by killing lelouch, he is able to avenge euphemia in the end, and bring the peace all three of them desired.

code geass is a hot mess but there is poetry in their betrayals. they are thematically bound to live this tragedy, and that is why they are iconic. the ending of code geass is well-known and highly regarded as one of the most iconic endings ever, and it can only ever be so because it stands on the love and loss and betrayals of suzaku and lelouch.

Charles/Erik

Summary by @sing-the-beginning-of-moana

it was love at first sight. they got together and were happy for a while until erik caused charles to feel the excruciating pain of dying (without actually dying), tried to kill hundreds of people, accidentally paralyzed charles, and then abandoned him altogether. and that's just the first movie. repeat with the same sort of behavior and constant breaking up and getting back together for the next several decades.

See other descriptions of Suzululu or Cherik

[bluebobatea]

if sasuke was the main character then he probably would've been a LOT more sympathised with than he is now (which is to say rarely). like the narrative wouldn't even need to change to show his pains or 'his side of the story', bc it does that plenty. it's just that he is not the main character. and idk what it is about our human minds but we tend to sympathise with main characters automatically (unless ofc you go off the rockers insane and do something like obliterate almost everyone from the planet *cough* eren yeager *cough*)

an instance that comes to my mind where this does happen is with lelouch from code geass. while i don't agree with his character motivations, people generally do sympathise with him as he is the mc and as viewers we know he isn't inherently evil. sasuke's goal towards the end is slightly similar but ofc people love to hate him so they don't even try to understand where he is coming from.

my point is, most people while engaging with the naruto story don't read between the lines and so don't see how traumatised and in pain sasuke is and hence don't understand his character motivations. heck, they don't understand a single bit about him and so they automatically hate him, as he is supposedly going against the main character's goals.

which is really sad given all that he has been through.

[alicent-vi-britannia]

Why does Shirley have to die?

One of the most frequent comments I found while browsing when I entered this fandom and it bothered me greatly was that Shirley's death was useless, which reflected a lack of understanding of the series and the character of Shirley and her relationship with Lelouch and Suzaku. So today I'll explain what the effects of Shirley's murder were.

Broadly speaking, Shirley's murder serves as a catalyst between the first and second half of the second season. Likewise, Shirley's sad murder resonates with the main theme of the series and influences the narrative arcs of Lelouch and Suzaku.

1. Shirley's death was what pushed Lelouch to change his plans for the Geass Cult. Instead of controlling the orphans who had been turned into Geass users, Lelouch decided to destroy the Geass Cult by decimating the children and scientists who participated in the project by organizing a clandestine operation with the Black Knights.

1.1. This operation will later become one of the reasons why the Black Knights will betray Lelouch. It's information that is leaked to Asahina, a member of the Four Holy Swords, and reaches through him Tohdoh, who, together with Ohgi, were the ones who convinced the rest of the Black Knights that they were angry with Zero for abandoning them in the middle of the takeove of the Tokyo Settlement. So the massacre of the Geass Cult influenced the betrayal of Tohdoh, one of the pillars in the Order of the Black Knights and most loyal to their leader.

1.2. Additionally, the Black Knights' attack on the Geass Cult resulted in the death of V.V. and attracted the Emperor who took the code from V.V. and then attempted to initiate the Ragnarök Connection in episode 15, but C.C. prevented this by sealing her code and suppressing her memories. Something that will influence Lelouch's isolation. Also, in the massacre of the Geass Cult, Lelouch captured Cornelia, which will be important in the future.

2. Shirley's death was what pushed Suzaku over the edge and motivated him to coerce Kallen through refrain to get confirmation that Zero was behind her murder. About to do so, Suzaku realized that he was about to become completely corrupted and begins to rethink his beliefs and methods for the first time. It's because of this incident with Kallen that Suzaku is willing to reunite with Lelouch and team up with him, even if it means abandoning Britannia. But, well, Schneizel ambushes the two former friends and makes Lelouch believe that Suzaku betrayed him once again. Consequently, Lelouch is determined to kill Suzaku in revenge, but it turns out badly due to the cursed order he gave him long ago and which causes the total annihilation of the Tokyo Settlement, something that will mark a turning point in Suzaku's narrative arc and It will also affect Lelouch...

3. Shirley's death was a turning point in Lelouch and Rolo's relationship. It was a relationship in which love and hate were quite balanced, but, after this event, Lelouch leaned towards hate. I'll talk more about this point in my analysis of Rolo's motivations for killing Shirley, so that's all I'll say for now. I'll add that, if Mao made him realize that Geass can corrupt the user and Euphemia's death made Lelouch realize that Geass is an evil power, Shirley's death made Lelouch realize that Geass will condemn him to isolation (damn, Lelouch saw a lot of red flags and kept going; I don't know whether to call it idiocy or determination). At the same time, he realized how terrible the power of Geass is in the hands of a child and became terrified that all Geass users were like Rolo, which is why he thinks it is better to eradicate the Geass Cult and not control them.

4. Shirley's death is linked to the main theme of the series (will) and, in a certain way, influenced the epiphany that Lelouch will have in the final stretch of the series. Rolo didn't get into a vehicle, he drove to Shirley's house and got out to shoot her. No. Shirley was murdered, following her will. She abandoned the security force that was guarding her because she wanted to offer her help to Lelouch. To paraphrase Lelouch's words to Schneizel in the series' penultimate episode, people are actively seeking happiness, and for Shirley, her happiness was with Lelouch. Even though Lelouch erases her memory over and over again to protect her, Shirley will always do what her will dictates, and that includes falling in love with him again. Shirley's firm resolve, added to that of other characters, is what teaches Lelouch to value human beings' will and constant pursuit of happiness.

In short, Shirley's death is what leads to most of the events that occur in the second part of R2. Without that, the Zero Requiem doesn't even take place. For all this, it is ridiculous that the alternate universe continues with the same events as the canonical universe, but, well, nothing makes sense in the alternate universe (hence it is complete garbage and I'll maintain this statement until the last day of my existence.)

Having said that. If anyone still wants to be angry about Shirley's death, they have to change their focus on her. The point isn't that Shirley's murder adds nothing to the plot (we already saw that it isn't true); but this seems to show that Shirley is a "woman in refrigerator." This is a term coined by Gail Simone to refer to female characters who face disproportionate harm, which will serve as a plot device to motivate male characters. The term was used to talk about situations in Western comics, but can be extrapolated to other media. Is Shirley a "woman in refrigerator"? I would say yes, but I think that term should be applied when there are female characters who have great potential and the authors don't exploit it, but rather prefer to reduce them to a motivation for the current male hero. And Shirley is not Kallen (an action heroine and Knightmare pilot, whose talent and skill can change the flow of a battle), she is not C.C. (an Immortal Witch who knows all the secrets of Geass and is clandestinely working with our protagonist's worst enemy for her own interests), she is not Euphemia (a princess in the Holy Empire of Britannia who can challenge the status quo and change the system from the inside), she is not Nina (a prodigy in science, capable of creating a weapon of mass destruction). She's only Shirley. An innocent civilian trapped in a bloody war. She cannot contribute more than she can, so let's not ask for pears from the elm.

I really wanted to write this analysis! I just removed a thorn that was stuck. I feel better.

[lipid]

a small comparison of the artstyle change between the two seasons. the most prominent between them is the sharper angles and smaller eyes of R2, which along with the almost beat-for-beat recreation of the first episode serve the narrative purpose of showing how Lelouch matured throughout the first season.

[brookstolemybrand]

I already talked about Sabo being kind of a parallel protagonist to Luffy, but Koby is in some ways maybe even more so (especially since he was introduced literally in chapter 2)

Sabo is Luffy's dad's protégé

Koby is Luffy's grandpa's protégé

(Sidenote: Luffy kinda took Ace's place as Shanks' and Rayleigh's protégé, arguably; I mean it would have made a lot of sense for former Roger pirates to act as mentor figures for Roger's son, wouldn't it? In a different story that put more importance to bloodlines, Ace would have been destined to be the next King of the Pirates for sure. Ace is kind of a decoy protagonist)

With Koby it's even more obvious when you look at the known SWORD members and how many of them have some kind of legacy position, or at least we can assume so even if we don't know for certain (like with Hibari suspiciously sharing Akainu's dialect). In theory, Garp's grandson would fit into SWORD perfectly.

And of course Garp very much intended this to be Luffy. It's not even subtle that Koby is the replacement grandson lmao

(Say what you want about Dragon's (lack of) parenting, he definitely didn't put any pressure on Luffy. So with Sabo it's not really the same, it's not like Luffy refused to follow in his father's footsteps; he didn't even know he had a father, much less what those footsteps were. But the parallels are still there)

But yeah, I think their personal connections to Luffy, as well as the way they're set up in positions that Luffy plausibly might have had in some alternate timelines, makes them Luffy's counterparts in the Navy and in the Revolutionary Army. Which allows them to function as pseudo-protagonists for the audience when Luffy isn't present and to take on plotlines that would otherwise feel like they should be handled by the main characters (like taking on the Blackbeard Pirates and the Celestial Dragons respectively)

Narratively speaking, as the plot gets bigger, you kinda need these secondary protagonists to carry the parts of the story that Luffy can't be there for

The three of them also represent different shounen protagonist archetypes:

I kinda struggled to phrase this myself (and honestly I just have a very limited reference pool for shounen anime) so I googled it and I'm stealing the terms from this post

Basically Luffy is the "Idiot Hero", Koby is the "Boy Wonder" and Sabo... well actually I think Ace is the "Punk Martyr" (he took the martyr part a bit too seriously rip), and Sabo is the secret fourth thing: the Cool Competent Guy (even though Sabo is also a punk, he just hides it better)

Luffy is a Goku, Koby is a Deku, and Sabo is... idk I guess he would be a Lelouch (look, I'm talking about character TYPES, not saying they're the same kind of person)

... Well actually Sabo is more of an Enjolras, but Les Mis is not a shounen manga—

SIKE, IT IS, I'M COUNTING IT

(That's a really good adaptation of Les Mis btw, I could gush endlessly about Takahiro Arai and how well he understood not only the core of the story but also how to adapt it into a visual medium, really leaning into the vivid metaphorical imagery in Hugo's narration and then adding to it his own, it's SO GOOD)

(To immediately nitpick myself: Sabo is more like an amalgamation of all the Amis de l'ABC but it's easier to say Enjolras for short. Also yes I know Enjolras isn't the protagonist, but he has protagonist energy)

Anyway... what was I saying?

Right, I was gonna talk about the hero thing, because heroism is actually a big theme in One Piece:

Luffy doesn't want to be a hero, BUT KOBY DOES. He might be sheepish about calling himself one, but it was his dream, and by all conventional standards he accomplished it: he's now a Navy Hero

Sabo is more of a reluctant hero; he wanted to be a pirate like Luffy but chose to become a revolutionary instead. He's fully committed to that role though, even willing to accept the title of regicide if it helps the cause (this btw also makes him similar to another character in Les Mis, the Conventionist who... okay fine I'll stop)

As a marine and a revolutionary, Koby and Sabo are on the opposite sides of the whole "hero" thing. Although well, neither of them are extremists so at the same time they're not that opposite either, more like just each others' counterparts on opposing sides, but still

It makes sense that Koby, whose ambition was to become a hero, would gravitate to the conventional and widely accepted form of heroism: military heroism. Meanwhile Sabo, the reluctant hero, was driven to become one exactly because those socially accepted forms of heroism in reality exist to maintain an unjust system and there need to be people who step up to oppose that system, it's heroism out of necessity

You could also say that Koby becomes a part of the system because he wants to be a hero, Sabo becomes a hero because he wants to escape the system...

(Sidenote: I actually have a hunch that Dragon is probably more like Koby in terms of personality and ambitions, he's just a Koby who became disillusioned after learning the truth about the navy. That's the vibe I get anyway)

Either way, both of them are a good contrast to Luffy, who insists that he's not a hero and who chooses to just follow his selfish whims, which is why he's the pirate, he picks the least "heroic" career option. And that's why he's the protagonist, because this is a pirate manga

That said, as it turns out, his selfish whims are pretty heroic anyway, and he ends up being the one who has the most freedom to do exactly what needs to be done, BECAUSE he's not a hero

(Is that extremely dangerous? Sure. Could it end really badly? Yes. But Luffy isn't supposed to be a role model, he's literally a pirate)

But it still helps the narrative to also have heroic characters who aren't only motivated to help people who give them food lol

(I kid, but ykwim)

It helps that there are heroes even if the protagonist isn't one, because otherwise the audience might start wanting the protagonist to become the hero

And then it wouldn't be a pirate adventure story anymore, it would become a hero narrative

....

.... I know I should end the post here but you have no idea how much I'm holding back a rant rn about the marines and how much they suck and why I find Koby so frustrating as a character... That's another post tho

[lazyofficer]

HERE IS WHY SHIRLULU IS LEGITIMATE SHIP -PART 7

Warning: I'm not a writer and English is not my native language. So kindly bare it or DM me about it. Criticism is welcomed not hate.

Continuation

GOLDEN ANIME STANDARDS FOR THE LOVE INTEREST -

There are numbers of shonen animes were the female lead and love interest are aren't the same and the love interest doesn't get much screen space.

Eg. Yu Yu Hakusha - Boton always accompanies the hero but Keiko is the love interest.

Shirley was created to be his love interest and unlike Kallen and CC, her entire character story is based on her relationship with Lelouch and how she handles it.

Shirley was chosen to be Lelouch's love interest to show his human side, to show his struggle to strike a balance between his goal and his feelings.

Reasons

1. Nickname

Shirley is the only person to ever give a nickname to Lelouch, "Lulu" and except for her, no one calls him that. 

2. Discovering his identity

Usually anime, which consists of a hero with a double life, The love interest is the first one to discover his other identity. 

First person to discover about Lelouch's identity as Zero and even after losing her memories she still discovered that he is zero and knew it till the end of R1. (she had a lot of potential).

3. Romance

ShirLulu has their own story with romance , angst and comedy. Their moments are explicitly romance.(explained in part 1 -part 6)

Angst element - Lelouch killed her father, and Shirley gets to know the truth and how both of them deal with their emotions, respectively.

A small backstory with Shirley's dad was added to catalyze their story. This gives a green signal for Shirlulu and also hints at Lelouch's feelings for Shirley.

RomCom element - Lelouch, who can turn situations around and accomplish the impossible, is a total dummy when it comes to romance and handling Shirley.

It's hilarious how he doesn't have a chance against Shirley.

4. Parallel with Nunnally

Lelouch is promising to fulfill Shirley's wish, like he did with Nunnally.  Lelouch has always been sweet to Nunnally and Shirley.

These parallels make it seem like Shirley is the next important person after Nunnally.

Ironically, both of them have the least interaction with Lelouch, yet they are very important to him

5. Crossroads

Almost all Shonen animes have this classic scene where the hero ha to his loved ones without forgetting his purpose. He would be at a crossroads and ultimately manages to save both.

R1 stage 08

Shirley, Nina, and Milly were kidnapped by a Japanese gang.

The narrative was like how will Lelouch would manage to save Shirley while still being against Britannia, typical like a hero at crossroads.

6. Kidnapping

Another classic is the heroine getting kidnapped by the antagonist, and the hero has to save her. Usually, the kidnapping is done to show the importance of the heroine to him and also to level up the hero.

 R1 Stage 14

Mao confrontation -he had to save Shirley from mao

7. Geass

Shirley is the only person to be geass-ed thrice. Twice by Lelouch and once by the emperor and also got the Geass cancelled by Jeremiah.

8. Hints

Lelouch has Nunnally, Suzaku, CC, and Kallen, yet It's Shirley's death that emphasizes Lelouch path of solitude. 

 Lelouch killed Euphy with a gun, and Shirley got killed by a gun. Suzaku lost his love due to Lelouch, and as Karma Lelouch has to lose his.

Even after their death, Shirley and Euphy were mentioned still the end of the series.( Rolo and Nunnally are mentioned too but the meaning is different).

R1 went in the direction of Shirley being the love interest (they were direct), but since Shirlulu failed to be popular, Makers made Shirlulu take a back seat, making them subtle in R2.

[jophiares]

Can I ask something from Code Geass? What do you think are Lelouch and Suzaku’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic? Sorry if you've answered these questions before.....

i haven't actually! thank you so much for sending this. thoughts in the read more below!

the thing abt suzaku and lelouch that really called to me was that they are two sides of the same coin. theyre both altruistic to a fault (different but the same), they love far too deeply (not talking abt this in a ship way either. both lelouch and suzaku do things out of love for others that is...questionable at best), they don't really understand the situation as a whole, and they don't really face major consequences to the end. lelouch is cruel, selfish, manipulative. suzaku is uncritical, righteously full of self loathing, half-hearted. theyre both major fucking hypocrites. they hate each other for the same reason they work so well together. (they love each other for those same reasons, too.) they're kind and optimistic to a fault. they're children playing war.

easily my favorite scene in all of code geass is one of the final scenes during the damocles battle, when the core argument between what lelouch stood for and what suzaku stood for is contended between the entire cast of characters, jumping from statement to statement, viewpoint from viewpoint. not only do suzaku and lelouch have their own quips but the other characters are what really make it for me because those are all people who are just as alive and have just as many feelings as they do--but at the end of the day none of that matters to them, such symbolized by the finale and zero requiem. their world was always so small, suzaku, lelouch, and nunnally. the final punishment was to destroy that in such a way that it could never be restored, that nothing could ever be the same. it's a much crueler punishment for suzaku, but i think lelouch knows suzaku well enough to know that suzaku would not be able to truly live (if you can even call it that, haha) without being molded into being something he is not (he was regarded as a knight and hero when all he saw himself as was a murdered.) but in the same breath, lelouch knowing that, accepting that part of suzaku, it being his final parting gift, his form of an eternity together... its powerful!

its kind of funny because code geass has its moments where the writing is so very much Not Good but then it also has these amazingly complex interwoven moments sprinkled in. personally, i actually grew up always asking myself whether its better to change the system without any casualty whatsoever vs dismantling it no matter the price, so i see myself in the both of them, though i agree with lelouch far more. truthfully, i didnt even like suzaku until after he detonates the fleija in r2 and he tells schneizel that as long as he makes him knight of one, he will slay the emperor. it took him a while, but he finally showed his own truth, understanding his fate as a weapon above all else.

its an anime with characters that are more complex than they look, parallels that run deeper than i believe many give credit for (dont get me started on shirley), and the truth of war, though maybe a bit sanitized. that being said, code geass would be Nothing without suzaku and lelouch at its helm, the true driving forces of the narrative and even the world of code geass itself.

those two are truly one of a kind.

[themattress]

Gundam: The Witch From Mercury >>> Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion.

EXCEPT on one major count.

Ichiro Okouchi wrote both giant mecha anime series that balanced campy over-the-top spectacle and wacky school life shenanigans with serious socio-political and military writing along with mature philosophical and emotional themes. The largest differences is that Code Geass was divided into four cours (the first two being just Lelouch of the Rebellion and the second two being Lelouch of the Rebellion R2) while The Witch From Mercury was only two cours, and on Code Geass Okouchi was assisted in the writing process by Hiroyuki Yoshino, who is also known for extreme melodramatic works such as My-HiME and My-Otome.

While possibly an unpopular opinion, I believe that the lack of another pair of cours was actually good for Witch as it helped it avoid the fate that befell Geass. For all its gleeful stupidity, Geass had genuine substance and intrigue in its first pair of cours, and it all went out the window in the second pair. It was better Witch quit while it was ahead than risk the same happening to it. The lack of Yoshino also helped, as it meant Okouchi's worst instincts as a writer were more curbed rather than aided and abetted. A perfect example is to compare a major climactic event in Geass' first season vs. a similar one in Witch. In Geass, the big shark-jumping moment for the show was toward the end of its first season where a major political procedure centered around a princess wanting to do right by the people her family has oppressed but manipulated by more sinister interests was to occur, and of course it would all go wrong and there would be a lot of carnage and devastation that makes things worse instead of better. But instead of this being accomplished in a way that made logical sense that was set up by the narrative and the characters, it's because of an out-of-nowhere, completely uncharacteristic joke that happens to be made when a mind controlling power reaches the point of going outside its user's control. The mind-controlled princess goes on a civilian killing spree and in the end gets put down by a single bullet (which her nation's medical science can't treat despite saving a foreigner who was riddled with bullets several episodes earlier) so that her love interest feels man pain that will advance his character while all the potential of hers is casually discarded. This was the point where Geass lost its way.

By contrast, in Witch we have a major political procedure centered around a sort-of princess wanting to do right by the people her family has oppressed but manipulated by more sinister interests occurring, and of course it all goes wrong and there's a lot of carnage and devastation that makes things worse instead of better. But it is accomplished in a way that, shock of shocks, makes logical sense that was set up by the narrative and characters! It feels like a tragedy that was inevitable rather than one that happened out of nowhere because someone suddenly decided to make a joke about genocide. And of course, the princess-type character actually gets to live with the consequences and grow from them to redeem herself. This is what should have happened on Geass: Lelouch should have deliberately sabotaged Euphemia's procedure just as he was intending to, only to be met with unforeseen and unwanted consequences when Schniezel retaliates with extreme prejudice, similar to how Prospera's sabotage of Miorine ended up setting off Shaddiq to go full school shooter.

So, with all that said, what's the one major thing Geass has over Witch?

While in Witch the main protagonist is Suletta Mercury, her mother Prospera is the character with a more direct correlation to Lelouch: a strategically brilliant, personally manipulative and theatrically charismatic individual who wears a metallic mask and yearns for both revenge and the creation of a new, better world no matter how many lives they have to take to achieve these goals, and who will use their loved ones as a justification for the selfish things they do.

Even though Geass developed a bad habit in its second season of glorifying Lelouch despite his atrocities in order to pander to his popularity, it never fully lost the plot on him (that only happened in the later, separate continuity film Lelouch of the Resurrection, but we're not talking about that garbage here). The narrative's position was still that he did wrong and that he had to pay for it in the end; he himself acknowledged this and even ensured that it happened! Additionally, as awful as he could be Lelouch was a teenager, and he had been wronged when he was a mere child, so there was still a degree of sympathy and leeway that the viewer could offer him, since the adults and systems in his life legitimately failed him.

Prospera, on the other hand, ended up feeling validated for all of the horrible actions she undertook. Instead of accepting and facing the consequences like Lelouch did, she gets off scot-free because someone else rather spontaneously decides to take the blame for her. Her living victims forgive her and the dead people she was seeking revenge for even show up to say they're proud of her! The discussion that she created more victims and by her own vengeful logic is fair game to be targeted for revenge by one of them is never had! Worse is that she was already a grown woman when the tragedy that sparked her into seeking revenge and a better world transpired, and roughly half of her villainy involves manipulating children! Many viewers say the sudden endgame Death Star type laser was the worst thing Witch did, but I beg to differ: that would have been fine had Okouchi been granted more time to set it up, which would have happened if he wasn't forcibly saddled by the higher-ups with a subplot he never intended to eat up the time that it did (Guel and his stupid family drama). There is no such excuse with this decision. Okouchi just decided she was an uwu victim.

I can accept the Death Star type laser. I can even accept Suletta's big Deus ex Machina peace-sparking victory in the final battle because that's kind of a Gundam franchise tradition at this point and there have been far worse versions of it. But I cannot accept a murderous terrorist facing no repercussions and even getting rewarded for their crimes in the end. For all that went wrong in it, Geass knew (at its time as a series anyway) that Lelouch couldn't live Happily Ever After in a peaceful world with his sister; not after he'd denied so many others that same chance. But Prospera gets to live Happily Ever After in a peaceful world with the daughters and daughter-in-law that she abused, and we're just supposed to be OK with that.

You did better here overall, Okouchi, but you still need to go back to writing school.

[troubled-bog-witch]

smh if people had just supported lelouch's fashion design aspirations things wouldn't have gone like this. ur not doomed by the narrative idiot just stop making bad choices

[paxesoterica]

I have reached the endgame of Super Robot Wars 30.

The Dreikreuz LGBTQ+_Community has defeated nearly all antagonist factions, including Dr. Hell's Kikaiju army[1], the mercenary Kingdom of Zilkhistan[2], the Neo Zeon remnant soldiers[3], the cosmic thralls of Triple Zero[4], the Wulgaru space fleet[5], the interstellar colonists from Pentagona[6], The Claw's cultish organization[7], the magitech forces of Zaloudek[8], the Super A.I. criminals[9], the otherworldly monsters of Cephiro[10], the Zanscare Empire and its superweapons[11], and the mysterious kaiju of Tsutsujidai[12], with their leaders either dead, defected, imprisoned, or otherwise MIA.

The crew has recruited nearly every character who could have joined the party, and there are no more opportunities to do so, i.e., I messed up recruiting a secret pilot from The Brave Police J-Decker and a secret supporter from SSSS.Gridman, but otherwise everyone else, including DLC characters, has joined.

The last antagonists remaining are the Quaestors, but to confront them will require a terrible sacrifice from crew! DUN DUN DUN!

To be continued...

Mazinger Z: Infinity

Code Geass Lelouch of the Re;surrection

Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative

King of Kings: GaoGaiGar VS Betterman

Majestic Prince

Heavy Metal L-Gaim

Gun X Sword

Knight's & Magic

The Brave Police J-Decker

Magic Knight Rayearth

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam

SSSS.Gridman

[d1ana-m0nd]

Random ramble about my obsession with One Piece (just a warning in case you haven't finished Dressrosa Arc) and a reasoning for my haitus :')

So, why was I on haitus? I was seeing someone who later on became my boyfriend for the next 6 months which ended up with me revolving my life around him thus leading me to neglect my passion projects.

I won't go much into detail for privacy reasons.

Let's just say, this dude's need to be "important" is so big that he had to find another girl to make himself feel important, instead of fixing the relationship or just breaking up with me instead of cheating. He then began rubbing it on my face that I was a terrible girlfriend when all I did was nothing but devote my life to him for the past 6 months, even if he made me feel like shit for it. In short I broke up with his cheating ass :D, so to those who were looking forward to my updates be thankful to him. /s

(Press 'read more' to find out about the One Piece Ramble)

You watch One piece? Blame Zoro's actor, Mihawk's actor, and Garp's actor for dragging me into the fandom. Now, I'm so deep into the anime that within 4 months I reached around 700 episodes. I'm almost done with the Dressrosa Arc; Ever since then, I'm hyped to write an x reader fic but, I'm not sure if I want to do a.) OP various x reader fic series, b.) stick to just one character as a love interest, or c.) just do like a platonic fic with a reader insert who shares a lot of fluff or crack moments with the strawhat pirates.

If I do the first or third choice, I sort of have the rough idea of what I want. However, I'm unsure of how I'd tackle certain things.

If I do the second choice, I have the same concept for the reader but, I'm torn up with the idea on who I would make the reader's love interest. So far, my choices are Law, Ace, Sabo and possibly Kid (I'm shocked about Kid since I barely know him but, I'm intrigued by him oddly enough).

Admittedly, I wanna write a Sabo x Reader fic just because I don't see enough content on him: In Quotev, Wattpad, and Tumblr. I AM LEGIT IN LOVE WITH HIS ENG DUB (I'm biased because his VA voices 'Vash the Stampede' and 'Lelouch Britannia') I can't stop thinking about Sabo and his voice that I'm willing to give in into my degeneracy even though I have not finished my other (The Servant: TUA fic) yet 🗿.

The issue is that, since I'm like 700+ episodes in into OP, I don't wanna start rewatching the whole show just to catch small details or understand the character better. I could read the Wikipedia yes, but there are small details integrated in the episodes that can be used in future chapters or interpreted differently which is something I like doing. I can take advantage of the narrative or find a way to make the reader's involvement more smooth and she doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.

Right now I'm in a conundrum about the whole thing. 🧍‍♀️

[homoeroticbetrayal]

Iconic Homoerotic Betrayal: Round 3

Poll Directory

Context:

Judas/Jesus

Summary by Clock

Judas sold Jesus to the Romans for 13 pieces of silver. He signaled the Romans and marked out Jesus amongst the disciples with a kiss. (He could have just pointed and said "that's Jesus" but he decided to kiss Jesus one last time.) He later hung himself, the 13 pieces of silver laid unspent by his feet.

Lelouch/Suzaku

Summary by Anonymous Contributor

szll is already iconic but I'm just going to list all their betrayals (and perceived betrayals) as a refresher:

(first, for context, one thing you gotta understand is lelouch, leader of the rebellion who believes ends justify the means, is also the discarded prince of the empire he's fighting against. suzaku, rising knight of the empire who believes means have to justify the ends, is the son and killer of the prime minister of the country being oppressed. this is PEAK narrative foils and enemies-to-lovers recipe right there.)

- lelouch and nunnally were sent to japan as political hostages. britannia takes over japan quickly after and lelouch, knowing how much japan means to suzaku, promises to destroy britannia. suzaku should be angry at britannia! lelouch will free them!! except years later he learns that suzaku is now WORKING for the empire? he's becoming a KNIGHT for the empire, betraying his own country and their shared hatred for britannia. what the fuck, what happened to principles, suzaku? this is lelouch's first (perceived) betrayal.

- lelouch (accidentally) kills euphemia, the only princess who's trying to make peace with the japanese, the princess that suzaku is knight of, the princess suzaku LOVES and lelouch adores. now yes, this was an accident, but lelouch ROLLS WITH IT and lets suzaku and the rest of the world believe that it was intentional, thus fully driving that knife deep. he never tells suzaku this was an accident. this is suzaku's most painful betrayal.

- suzaku finds out lelouch is zero, leader of the rebellion, and turns him in to his evil dad, emperor of the empire, in exchange for becoming a knight of round (the highest military status). now if you count akito the exiled as canon, this also means sending lelouch to be BRAINWASHED into serving the empire as a master tactician before R2 happens. suzaku monitors him all throughout, watching lelouch destroy nations and praise the empire against his own principles.

this is just season one of code geass. this doesn't even touch how suzaku is also forced to betray his own loyalties/principles sometimes whenever the "live" geass that lelouch condemns him with acts up. how suzaku would monitor lelouch and keep deceiving him that rolo is his beloved sibling, not nunnally. etc etc.

AND YET despite all of this, code geass culminates with them SWEARING LOYALTY to each other, with lelouch becoming the demon emperor and suzaku becoming his right-hand man, the knight of zero. lelouch becomes a tyrant that suzaku is destined to kill. lelouch brings peace to the world but will never be able to live in it. he will always be remembered as the dictator, the scourge of the world. suzaku atones for all his sins by being reduced to a heroic symbol, by being punished to kill his best friend and never becoming suzaku the person ever again. with the "live" geass, he is cursed to never die, never to escape, always bearing both of their sins -- the eternal punishment he has been seeking. and by killing lelouch, he is able to avenge euphemia in the end, and bring the peace all three of them desired.

code geass is a hot mess but there is poetry in their betrayals. they are thematically bound to live this tragedy, and that is why they are iconic. the ending of code geass is well-known and highly regarded as one of the most iconic endings ever, and it can only ever be so because it stands on the love and loss and betrayals of suzaku and lelouch.

See other descriptions of Suzalulu