#in spite of its flaws. and in spite of the fact that I don't really like it. 15 came close to this kind of thing

[the-hype-dragon]

just been replaying FF7 and thinking how disappointed I was that it didn't just get a straight remake, haven't played the remake simply because it's a bait and switch AU

but anyway idk why but this particular boss battle amused me so much, when I was younger I swear this game wasn't so funny but in spite of the dark tone it takes a lot of the time FF7 is probably the funniest 3D entry, here's our techno-soldier, our R&D guys asked themselves, what would happen if you crossed the Terminator with a toilet?

(the 90s were very weird)

maybe I'll take more screenshots later but the only way I could really enjoy this game was with Yuffie and Cid as Cloud's backup dancers, holy crap they just turn it into a completely different game. FF7 has this reputation as being very serious and emo but it really wasn't, at all lmao. I wish more games were like that, where EVERY scene changes depending on who's in the party. I had such a blast, I kind of kick myself for hating this game for so long, I just didn't know how to play it lmao

[logar3]

Just finished reading the MHA manga's Finale!

Okay, I've just read the ending of MHA. That was fine?! Good, even. Especially considering the usual state of Shonen endings.

Also, the fact that Mei stocks are on the rise is great :P

I genuinely don't understand what people had wrong with it... Actually, I do. People need to stop reading leaks and taking them as the canon translations. I really enjoyed that!

I'm super grateful to MHA for being my introduction to anime and for being the creative spark needed to get me into fanfiction.

MHA had its flaws, but every story -good or bad- does too, and I love it because of those flaws, not in spite of them.

A lovely way to end the story!

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Okay so a thing that has bothered me ever since I first watched Chat Blanc was Bunnyx and the general time travel stuff because tghis makes no sense. In the Chat Blanc time line, after Chat Blanc destroyes the universe, everyone is dead. Including adult!Alix aka Bunnyx. So the Bunnyx fron the Chat Blanc timeline doesn'rt exist anymore, meaning that the Bunnyx fron the episode is from a parallel timeline where Chat Blanc didn't destroy the universe. That however raises the question why she would even care about that other timeline. Is her quest to assure victory over Monarch in every single timeline because that sounds exhausting as hell. I also don't understand the deal with her leg disappearing while she witnesses the fight between LB and CB, it has no reason to, because LB defeating CB doesn't have any effect on Bunnyx because, as stated earlier, the Bunnyx from that timeline is already dead! And honestly, the fact that Lb even had to fight CB makes no sense. They could've just went back in time 2 minutes so LB can erase her name from the letter (or just be quicker so Adrien doesn't see her) and CB doesn't happen in the first place!

Like, genuine question, what was the point of the whole thing? I mean other than the concept is cool and the writers wanted to give LB trauma (which never really plays a significant part in the overall story anyway??)

Sorry for rambling so much, I don't know if this makes any sense, the episode was really confusing to me and idk if it's just because the episode actually doesn't make sense or because I just don't understand it bc time travel is really confusing. Would really love to hear your opinion!

You're fine and you're not missing a thing. The episode simply doesn't make sense nor am I sure why it even exists. I know a lot of people love it, but I really don't get the hype. It runs off of nonsense logic and makes most of the characters look really bad.

Let's start with the lore.

The canon lore is that Bunnyx only travels through time, not universes, so it makes no freaking sense that an adult Bunnyx would be able to stop Chat Blanc since the existence of Chat Blanc should stop her from existing. It's a total paradox that goes against everything we'd been told about her powers. Of course, she's also supposed to be the hero of last resort, yet we hear about her hanging out with famous historical figures and the season five final sees her acting as a substitute for the horse miraculous even though the people she portals in don't do a thing to help with the final battle, so it's not like Chat Blanc is the only time her powers and role get ignored. Any time I use the rabbit, I have to completely rework its lore because canon is just so bad at time travel. I like Alix and her adult design is awesome, but any time Bunnyx shows up, I expect to be annoyed.

Also, I will never forgive her for just dumping Ladybug back in our time without so much as a word of encouragement or any reassurance that the Chat Blanc stuff was only a maybe. And Ladybug was the one to figure out how to fix time!!! Alix, you suck at your job! Or this is just another case of the writers refusing to let someone other than Marinette save the day even though the poor girl really needs a day off.

As for why this episode exists? I don't even know, dude. It makes no sense. Back when we thought it was going to be a driving force in the season four conflict - an assumption that was backed up by Marinette's nightmare in sentibubbler - the episode kinda made sense in spite of its flaws. But we're two seasons past Chat Blanc and the only person who is apparently traumatized by it is Adrien.

Yes, the writers actually said this. No, you didn't miss an episode where Adrien learned about Chat Blanc. They were talking about the nightmares from the final:

Mélanie says that he "could become Chat Blanc" and the others add that even though he does not remember and has never lived it, Chat Blanc still has an influence on his actions.

Yes, this is embarrassingly bad writing. The character who never saw or even heard of Chat Blanc is somehow the one who is traumatized and effected by it while Marinette's trauma has nothing do to with Chat Blanc or the events of the season four final. Instead, it's random BS that was never even hinted at until season five. I just... what?

In case it wasn't obvious - which I guess it isn't given that professional writers missed this - the logical way to write this to have the season four conflict be about Chat Blanc from Ladybug's side. After the conflict ends, she reveals everything to Chat Noir who becomes terrified of hurting people with his powers. This is only exacerbated by the events of Destruction. But then the show would have had to let Chat Noir have a character arc that didn't revolve around Ladynette and the series seems allergic to that as a concept, so instead Adrien gets magical trauma that keeps him from the final fight. And I thought the Derision retcon was bad!

Other issues with Chat Blanc in no particular order:

It cements Nathalie as just as bad a Gabriel since she's the one who tells him Adrien's secret identity and we then see her do nothing to try to protect Adrien.

It makes Gabriel irredeemable by showing him gleefully hurting his child. Dude punts his son across the city with a smile on his face!

It makes Adrien look slimy since he asks Marinette out without telling her that he knows her secret identity. This one is in a bit of a grey area for me because the secret identity stuff is complicated, but Adrien has never been the one who cared about secret identities AND he's the one who has been directly turned down in hero form. The episode takes none of that into consideration with its writing and it really needed to for Adrien to feel like he had a valid point of view here. As is, he's taking advantage of a situation and putting his Lady love at risk for his own wants.

The pillow sniff scene makes Marinette look unhinged.

It spits in the face of The Power of Love by having Adrien's love fail to be enough to stop him from killing Marinette.

Marinette's parents should have gotten involved after Gabriel threatened her. There is no way in hell that I'd let my kid go over to the Agreste mansion after that. If the writers were once again determined to not let Tom and Sabine parent, then the threat should have come when Marinette was alone.

Why did Ladybug even need to go to the future if Bunnyx could have just gone back in time and stopped Ladybug from leaving the present for Adrien? Why did Chat Blanc even need to be defeated? What did Ladybug's ladybug actually fix when she cast her charm?

This is minor, but it bothers me: Chat Noir should not have been smiling and happy when he was freed from his akuma. That boy should have been in the middle of a breakdown.

I know people forgive some of the above because Chat Blanc is sort of an AU and I'm not going to say that's wrong, I just can't look at it that way because there's nothing that sets Chat Blanc apart from the normal timeline. The Paris special gives us an AU. Chat Blanc (and Ephemeral) are what the writers told us would happen in the canon timeline if Gabriel ever discovered his son's secrets. Canon Gabriel was the one doing those things and would have done them again if given the chance. This is who the writers said he is. Same goes for all the other characters who come across less than stellar here.

There's a reason why I love a good Chat Blanc rewrite. It's an idea with a lot of potential, but canon capitalizes on almost none of it.

[ultranos]

Hey nos, please could you start tagging your atla critical posts so I can blacklist them? You do post some good points occasionally, but the sheer bitterness is getting a bit much for me.

This is fascinating to me for a number of different reasons. The first of which is that I'm honestly kind of baffled by what it even means, because I don't...really engage with fandoms in "pure praise" mode. Ever. My brain doesn't work like that. I took too many media studies classes in university for my brain to work like that; there's always part of my brain engaging critically with every piece of media I interact with and I can't shut it off. And the longer I pick and prod at it, the longer I can engage with it and think critically about it, the more interested in the media I am.

This brings me to another reason this is fascinating to me, because I think if you're picking up on bitterness, Anon, it's not coming from where you think. I actually very much like AtLA. I like it in spite of, and some times because of, its flaws. I like the fact that I can see the bones of a great story, see the flaws where things could be better, where the things they got absolutely right still hold up all these years later.

Where the bitterness and frustration comes from is with some areas of fandom's tendency to sand down those edges and flaws instead of engaging with them or throwing them into high relief. To ignore the flaws and pretend they don't exist because it makes them uncomfortable and unhappy.

(Okay, maybe some bitterness is from how Actual Human Disaster Child Azula was treated for a long-ass time, I'll cop to that.)

I like the canon Morally Ambiguous But Trying to Be Better Uncle Iroh over Saint Iroh.

I like the canon Angry Ball of Rage and Actually Kind of a Jackass Zuko over Never Did Anything Wrong In His Life Sad Zuko.

And I'd fist-fight a god for Aang, actual child and actual genocide survivor.

I really, really like the show I watched. I don't like the show that exists in a lot of people's heads.

[hotel-japanifornia]

I feel Larry suffered the most from the series being so weird about events from the previous games not being mentioned. It feels everyone forgot about how his shenanigans led to some key testimony in Turnabout Goodbyes.

They didn't even need to spell out his role in the other games. Just imagine if in Investigations, Kay wasn't sure if they should listen to Larry, but Edgeworth says they should as "his nonsense helped save [his] life".

If there's one thing I can say I hate about 3-5, it's that the writing chooses to dunk on Larry rather than letting the man grieve over his mentor. Also how weirdly hostile Edgeworth is towards him, in spite of the fact that he actually seemed cordial towards him at the end of 1-4. And that's even taking the truth of the class trial into account.

6-DLC is a case I hate, and wish I could rub out of canon, and one of its flaws is that it reveals that Larry and Phoenix have not spoken since the OT. Ah yes, because Larry would totally not try to reach out to Phoenix in spite of being one of his oldest friends. I also refuse to believe he's never met Trucy either.

I know the no spoiler rule is a thing, but I don't think it'd have hurt if they alluded to Larry and Maya keeping in touch during the seven year gap somewhere. The two bonding over Misty's death is a hc I actually really love, and I think it's IC for Larry to try to comfort Maya in his own bumbling way. I also think the idea of Maya adopting all three of Nick, Edgeworth, and Larry into her found family is a really cool and sexy idea.

[i-read-that-manga-for-you]

Given

Admittedly, I read this manga a long time ago. Like when chapters were still coming out. I was still in high school at the time (holy fuck) and couldn't really articulate my feelings as well as I can now.

I had left this review (bits and pieces of it) on a manga site and decided I might as well put it on my tumblr, finetuning it, of course. First post, because in spite of its flaws, Given is still close to my heart. And I reread it again (somewhat) to make this a better review. I hope each person who reads this will reimburse me with 50 cents each (jk don't). So here it is. My impression of Given, with !!some!! talk about how SA is treated in BL/Yaoi culture in general.

Or not, this is just my two cents with no anthropology degree.

Do take what I say with a grain of salt, a piece of creative media does not exist in a vacuum, but this review treats it as one at times because I'm not really skilled enough to talk about any wider implications. I'm just some guy giving my review.

Spoilers ahead. Go ahead.

TW: Sexual Assault.

Honestly, this manga made me feel a lot. Good and bad feelings. But let's focus on what I liked.

Ugetsu.

He's on the phone, shhh.

I found Ugetsu to be a very compelling character, and it was a huge shame that he vanished partway through the manga. Basically? I have no criticisms about him as a character, he has his flaws and he's nuanced. He's interesting and compelling, and it's clear that he's someone who is still growing and learning to walk on his own two feet. I won't deny that his relationship with Akihiko was very toxic, but I definitely think this isn't something that can be blamed solely on him.

But with this out of the way. Let's talk about the pairings.

Let's talk about Akiharu.

Kizu Natsuki is an amazing artist... Even when I have certain issues with this manga.

Well. I have a lot of qualms with Akiharu.

For starters, Akihiko assaulted Haruki. I'll never forget that. The fact that they ended up getting together anyway was a huge point of contention for me. Given was framed as a story about love more than a traditional story about BL/yaoi which (sorry) usually leans towards the sex. (This is not to say that sex and romance are separated, well they are but they are linked rather than being one in the same. You can have either, like they're hot/cold water but they come from the same faucet.)

But I feel that having this scene in rather than an argument feels completely wrong. I'm someone who will digest pretty much anything the world throws at me, but the Akiharu assault scene came off wrong and it came off scary. (Note: I say scary but I definitely mean much more than that, I just feel like "shouldn't be romanticized" doesn't encapsulate all of it. This topic is not something I'm qualified to talk about, so I don't want to overstep any boundaries.)

And to be honest, that's good because SA shouldn't be romanticised, for that, a big well done to our author. I just wish the aftermath was dealt with better.

This is terrifying. Please retract your words.

In spite of the SA scene being scary, afterwards all seemed to be resolved the moment it was revealed that Akihiko had nowhere else to go.

Everything for them goes uphill from here. Yay.

I just have to wonder what was the point of that buildup if you were just going to allow things to end nicely like that. With a scene like that, you'd think that the manga was saying that "SA is scary, it's terrifying and it's something that you shouldn't forget even if it's BL/Yaoi." But, why did it end up like this.

What I'm trying to say is: What does it matter that Akihiko apologised (twice), he still assaulted Haruki, he assaulted a friend. Even worse is the way that they're framed as a healthy couple afterwards, this just made me all the more uncomfortable. I feel like this is saying "SA is scary" but also saying "the power of love and friendship absolves everything". I've seen some people talk about the fact that SA happened, but haven't seen them say how it was "resolved". I think it's more to do with yaoi/BL fiction culture, that we've grown to accept SA that is unaddressed in our media to the point that Akihiko's apology is like a prayer more than something that's not even worth a second glance.

Saying that Akiharu started off rocky is an understatement, but if I pretend it never happened, I can say for sure that they are much healthier than Akigetsu, and they deserve each other. It's just not good storytelling especially because I don't really understand the motivations of Haruki liking Akihiko.

I once said that Haruki's character arc was based on Akihiko and that was my bad. I was wrong. Haruki, in fact, has a minor character arc, that isn't really to do with Akihiko, about how he feels insecure surrounded by geniuses in the band and this gets resolved by Akihiko saying that they wouldn't be able to function if all of them were geniuses, and Haruki himself seeing Akihiko hard at work. But I had completely forgotten about this arc, my bad, but my point still stands. Haruki deserved a better character arc.

I don't have a smart comment for this unfortunately. Eat your veggies??

In spite of saying this, I'm not an Akiharu hater, I swear. But I just found that ship much less compelling than Akigetsu in general. Akigetsu was a relationship where they were both incredibly toxic towards each other, there was an imbalance in the fact that Ugetsu literally owned the place they were living in, as well as how he'd kick Akihiko out whenever things were rocky. However, I think the end of their relationship was dealt well on both sides, their toxicity towards each other was framed in a negative light as it should have been. They ended the relationship and went their separate ways, this was the best ending for them. For Akiharu and Akigetsu: The difference between these two relationships is that one was dealt well and the other was dealt wrong. Akiharu deserve each other and Ugetsu deserves to learn how to grow by himself.

Anyway, another point of contention was, in spite of the healthy nature of Akiharu. Somehow, the friendship between the two couples seems to have waned and it was pretty disappointing to see. I think it started before this, but the first time it was obvious to me was this scene.

I know you're in the middle of something, but don't be mean to Mafuyu >:(.

Context: This is Chapter 40. Akiharu are in a moment of intimacy and Uenoyama is knocking at their door trying to get advice.

We've seen that Mafuyu is a very reserved person, to see that Akihiko was so ready to tell Mafuyu to stop coming over (even if it is to stop him from coming over so suddely) right to his face was extremely immature.

Basically, imagine if that had been Mafuyu. Personally, I feel like Mafuyu would have been hurt like hell and closed right back up. This scene is something played for laughs and that's something so disappointing. Given is shown to be a band of friends, but in the end it seemed more like two couples who hang out sometimes. Also the fact that both Akihiko and Haruki are pushing Uenoyama to get Mafuyu to rejoin the band. That's something else that bothers me heavily. That they're treating Mafuyu as Uenoyama's responsibility because they're dating. It's a band that is sure to fall apart if you are not making an effort to support each other equally. I mean, it doesn't have to be entirely equal but points for effort and they get no points here. It's funny because they were at least a little self-aware of this prior.

Dating in a band is something that is nuanced, of course. But it sure is funny to see them practically go down the same route they condemned.

That's my criticism of Akiharu.

So, what about the other instance of SA? I'm talking about Shizusumi and Hiiragi, of course.

Let's talk about Shizuragi.

Here they are! Let's talk about them!

Admittedly the first time around, I wasn't particularly into Shizuragi, I was too busy mourning the absense of Ugetsu. But it was during their sex scene where I realised something was very wrong. I was having flashbacks to the Akiharu assault chapter but this time it was played as "love" rather than something reprehensible. Once again, assault was in the manga and it, once again, resolved with badly.

I feel like sexual assault being played off as "love" and being resolved literally the next chapter with the victim being all kosher with it, should be garnering people's "??? what the fuck"s and not to bat for the opposing team for once but where are the complaints. I've actually seen some people talking about this chapter, but I would have expected more.

Hiiragi said he was scared and was crying, but they still fucked anyway. :D <- smile of shock.

Um what. Haha... ha........ :D <- terrifed smile of shock.

I don't know whether it would have been worse that he knew he was assaulting Hiiragi or whether he didn't know at all. But he knew.

Shizusumi confessed his love the morning after and it was all okay. But, to be honest, the fact that it was played off as being "all okay" makes this even worse. It's normal in yaoi/BL for SA to be played off as love, but you'd think that the last place you'd see this is in Given of all places. SA is SA and the fact that Hiiragi was so accepting of what happened to him afterwards says something about this the culture of BL/yaoi and how we just go along with it says something about this sentiment of how "yaoi is always going to be yaoi".

We're done? We're done.

There are no more SA scenes (that I can remember). But I do want to touch on Mafuyu and Uenoyama as briefly as possible (This is a recount of my experience after all). So, Mafuyama.

Ah, yes. The start of everything.

Admittedly, I didn't actually find their relationship super compelling. This is because I tend to get tunnel vision on characters I like (in this case, I heavily tunnel visioned on Ugetsu). I do like them both, they just didn't fit within my vision. I thought they were sweet but I also see a lot of complaints about how Mafuyu was stuck on Yuki and Uenoyama was getting backseated and I do agree with this. Kind of.

I think Mafuyu's story is about growth as a person, it's like what people say: You don't move on or lose your grief, you grow around it. Grief doesn't get smaller, you just get bigger. The person he loved died and I don't think it's fair to say that he has to get over Yuki. Grief is something that sticks with you everywhere, something you have to carry every day. They're still teenagers, they're still young and still have room to grow.

But as a story? Sheesh, instead of Haruki having no place in their circle. I felt like Uenoyama, even when he's the protagonist, wasn't given his spotlight in his own story. There is no character arc for him, there is nothing for him and that's just not fair. There are two people in a relationship, so why does it always feel like, narratively, Uenoyama always comes as an afterthought?

You could have had a character arc about this... Relationships are meant to be balanced, sweetie...

I just think it's a shame, but they're nowhere near as unhealthy as the other couples in Given, so I'm giving them a gold star.

(Minor irk, I do not remember when this happened but why the hell does Yayoi (Uenoyama's sister) get a character arc (where she comes to an understanding about Mafuyama feelings for each other, but also the gay in general) but the man himself doesn't?)

So, with Mafuyama, I feel like the story could have focused a little more on Uenoyama's side. But I feel like it's similar to how Haruki's story kind of got the backseat to Akigetsu drama happenings at the time. Shrug, we can't have it all.

He's beautiful...

That's honestly... all my thoughts. Wow! That was a lot of them. I think there's a lot to be said about how yaoi treats SA and dub-con in general, even in a manga that's not even focused on the sex.

With that said, I don't think BL shouldn't have SA or dubious scenes but the aftermath should be dealt with better afterwards. I think with Given, it's a start that the SA (at least with Akiharu) wasn't romanticised, but the aftermath was just poorly executed.

But I'm not the yaoi police, I hold no authority and I don't support purity culture. I'm not an anti-anything and I also believe that fiction should be fiction. What people enjoy should no way equate to a person's worldview. But, this was just all my perspective and my opinion. I said it and now I'm done. Haha... Anyway, my paypal is—

[alevolpe]

Answering your ask about not giving up a ship on Twitter (what is my i will hang on, teeth and claws). And ive really gotten into multi shipping lately. That all the scouts (the age appropriate ones) are in love with each other. The outers and the inners live separately, but only cuz its hard to find a house that big where they are. (But true to my big fat greek wedding style, thier houses are in a row and they can always see each other)🤣🥰

I have nothing against senshi poly-cule, I think it's fun!

It's not my go-to, but I'm not against it. I like to think some senshi having differing levels of friendship, attraction and respect toward each other.

I'll actually give my opinion on each individual ship. If I think they work, why they do or don't work and why I like them if they do. (p.s. Mamo is not included here, but I do tend to default ship UsaMamo, even if it's pretty poorly written most of the time)

Long post ahead! Hope you appreciate this, it took me a ton of time and I suck at writing.

BEFORE YOU READ THIS, THESE ARE MY OPINIONS, BASED ON MY HEADCANONS/CHARACTER INTERPRETATIONS WITH A BIT OF CANON SPRINKLED HERE AND THERE ( I do not want to see you typing " ..but x character is straight.." , I will come to your house and steal al the toilet paper!!!)

Let's start with Usagi:

(I'll mostly focus on the other side of the party, cause I honestly believe Usagi would be happy with anyone, being able to work though personal preferences more than most people)

🌙💧UsagixAmi: I can see it! They are actually a guilty pleasure ship of mine, they are super cute, and I think they would both respect and love each other enough to work through some stability issues in the relationship. Mostly stemming from not being able to spend enough time with each other. I see Usagi as very clingy and needing to interact physically and emotionally with her partner on a regular basis. While Ami would have the patience to deal with the more emotional moments from Usagi, aka immaturity. This ship works for me, though it needs work from both parties to keep a healthy balance.

🌙🔥UsagixRei: I... don't really see it.. srry. Ik people love it and ik it's an amazing friendship, but I just can't see them interacting healthly on a daily basis. Rei is incredibly independent, while Usagi really isn't. Which is totally fine if matched with the right partner, but Rei would just end up being too frustrated and her love for Usagi would just turn into spite. She needs her space and tbh, she really needs someone who could drop her like a hot potato if the case need be. Overall, an AMAZING friendship, wouldn't work in a relationship. Rei as a friend is just too different from Rei as a lover, and that Rei is not made to be with Usagi.

🌙⚡️UsagixMakoto: I can kind of see it, like AmixUsagi. My only real issue would stem from the fact that Ami has a lot more patience than Mako. Mako is a caretaker, she loves and thrives taking care of others, but she does get frustrated by Usagi's occasional lack of emotional control. Leading me to think Mako would prefer someone with more emotional maturity, tho she would never admit it, or even consciously relate to it as a preference she's looking for in a partner. Tho them cuddling, eating and chilling out would actually work really well, cause I do already see them being very affectionate platonically too. Ship's cute, but quite flawed, would need a LOT of work from both parties do last any significant amount of time and pressure.

🌙💛UsagixMinako: this one's complicated. On one side, yes! I can see it working quite well, on another.. it's a complete disaster. Let me explain. If you were to ask me if I think that Mina and Usagi could work as a couple, I would say yes. They are both very fun, loving, care free gals, who are both emotionally intelligent (Usagi is emotionally intelligent, not mature) and who are very aware of each other's feelings. On the other hand you're asking me if Mina, the leader of a superhero team, the one who's hands would be stained with blood if anything were to ever happen to any of her subordinates, if she would be willing to completely set aside her relationship when it comes to a fundamental rift in ideologies between her and her princess. I don't think Mina would be strong enough to put herself through that, to hurt Usagi when she knows it would be the inevitable, over and over. You cannot save everyone and while she can say that has her leader, I think she could not muster to say it as a lover. Overall cute, if extremely dramatic given the senshi angle, but I don't think it would work.

🌙🗡UsagixHaruka: no. Just no. They are both immature emotional wrecks ready to pass by the McDonald's drive through for a happy meal. They are quite similar in a lot of ways and while I see their friendship as something very precious, they would not work as lovers.

🌙🌊UsagixMichiru: I think I said it quite well once, so I'll reuse it in this situation. "If Michiru had met Usagi instead of Haruka back in S, I think Michiru would've walked into traffic by sunset". Ok, all seriousness, no. I personally find it really hard to see Michiru with anyone that isn't Haruka, let alone someone that isn't a butch lesbian. So, nah, sorry.

🌙🕒UsagixSetsuna: my hc Setsuna is very different from canon Setsuna. I don't see her with anyone. She's just Pluto.

Ami

💧🔥AmixRei: the only way I can see this ship working is in a first fling type of way. Like 2 inexperienced teens wanting to give love a chance with another pretty girl, while being awkward af mfs. If we're talking about them dating after being friends for a long time, I don't see it being stable. Ami is incredibly intelligent, but more like booksmart, not really people smart, while Rei is the literal incarnation of a jigsaw puzzle covered in spikes. There would be little to no direct and clear communication between the two, Rei would feel frustrated like no other cause her 'signs' are CLEARLY SO OBVIOUS MIZUNO! Meanwhile Ami just can't deal with brain games in a romantic relationship (mostly stemming from my autistic Ami hc), with the person she would share a house with.. uh.. l think not, sorry. In the end, I see it working for a bit as a first relationship that ends in them staying close friends, but not anything long-term.

💧⚡️AmixMakoto: AAAHHh, ok I get a chance to talk about them. I'LL KEEP IT BRIEF! I love them, you know this already. They are very simple, direct and loving partners. They have the most boring, loving, drama free, cuddle and love filled relationship in the universe. It's boring, but idc, it's just pure fluff and I love them. The only argument I could see them getting into, on rare occasions, is Ami being Ami and being way too busy for her own good. Mako is a caretaker, yes, but she also wants to be taken care of and spend quality time with her lover. I can see Mako getting silent angry when Ami picks up one too many shifts, while also feeling a bit guilty about it, cause she knows how much her job means to Ami. They would talk and work through it slowly, day by day. Ok, anyhow, love them, NO NOTES!

💧💛AmixMinako: sorry, I think people who follow me are sick of hearing this, but one more time for the people in the back. I do not see Ami and Minako as being good friends. They eventually come to being able to interact one on one without wanting to blow the other's brains off, but I do not ever think they would come to any mutual attraction. It's a bit of a hot take on my part, but I have no issue seeing Mina as a bit of a bully. She loves attention, she knows Ami is an easy target, she bothers Ami, Ami gets mad. Most often silent mad. She eventually does start to snide back, even quite smartly! But they would rarely have that one to one moment I see almost every single one of the girls coming to throughout their friendship. So.... I don't see it, but it's mostly due to my unique perspective of each character.

💧🗡AmixHaruka: AHAHAHAHAHA. ur funny.

💧🌊AmixMichiru: you can refer to my reasoning on UsagixMichiru, srry Ami, you just ain't her type (not butch enough). Though, I do see them becoming really good friends as adults, once Michiru decided to chill tf out and act like a human being and Ami learns a bit more about 'how-to-human 101'. No, no's the answer. I don't see it.

💧🕒AmixSestuna: refer to UsagixSestuna.

Rei

🔥⚡️ReixMakoto: I can see y people like them.. but I can't help but see them driving each other crazy. Rei does not need a caretaker, why would she want a home-made lunch every day, if ramen cups were on sale 10 for 10$, like.. hello!? Ok for real, I can't see it. (Srry Ik I'm breaking so many hearts rn). They are too independent and honestly, they are also two real dumb hardheads when they want to be. Their problems would mostly stem from caretaking and activity coordination, they would fight over everything unless they write down a plan and schedule to stick to it. Also small side note, Rei is really not the cuddly person, while Mako is quite the opposite so that would feel pretty hard to make work without making one feel uncomfortable or the other feel unloved. So, overall, great friendship, but they cannot be living together without a peace maker to ensure they don't eat each other alive.

🔥💛ReixMinako: YES! they got it all! Fluff, check. Drama, check. Interesting and layered dynamics, check. Complex yet comprehensible human to senshi spectrum, check! Funny, CHECK! Even tho Makoami is my personal fav ship, these two (along with Harumichi) are my must ship. Like I NEED to see this, why is no1 making this in canon?! I love how layered their dynamics are, from being the leader and second in command, yet being emotionally mature enough to separate their human counter-parts from their duties, while still truly caring for each other in their own unique way. Getting on each other's nerves, giving off the vibes that they could either be 2 seconds away from kicking each others' asses to taking it to the bedroom (it's impossible to tell the difference). They are just supremely interesting, both alone, but especially together. I could go on and on, but I seriously have no notes, it is just ENDLESS possibilities and endless entertainment.

🔥🗡ReixHaruka: they're two dumb gays. I do not see either of them finding any attractive traits about the other. It's just really that simple and I don't have much to comment on it.

🔥🌊ReixMichiru: again it goes to the attraction factor mostly, though I can see Rei finding Michiru attractive, if a bit psychotic (lol, it's part of the charm). I would love to explore a relationship between the two, and I prob will in the future, but it will just default to platonic. This is really kind of it tho, the major factor for me not shipping a lot of stuff is that I tend to default to friendship instead of romance, cause they both act and feel very differently from each other.

🔥🕒ReixSestuna: r.r.r.r.... refeeeeerrrrr to UsagixSetsuna. Thank you for listening to Meioh102.5 back to you Bill.

Makoto

⚡️💛MakotoXMinako: I love their friendship!... thas about it tho. My major issue is Makoto not being able to keep up with Mina, she would need someone more mellow and low key. Unlike Mako, Rei is not afraid to tell Minako NO, while Mako easily guilts herself from denying attention or needs from her partner to give herself some space. I usually default them as being best friends basically (childhood friends in hc), but thinking about anything long term for them would just make me feel for Mako. Mina needs constant attention and distraction, which is honestly a bit out of her control also, but still draining for anyone who is not 100% willing to put their foot down or have enough energy to match hers. So, great great great friendship, I love how they play off of each other, but being in a relationship, living in the same house... would turn into chaotic exhaustion and desperation.

⚡️🗡MakotoxHaruka: I don't see it. I'm happy to see Mako having Haruka as possibly her first gay awakening, but I tend to think that's as far as it goes (while I see Mako as BI, I do think she looks for different attributes she finds attractive for each gender, mostly looking for more masculine attributes in guys and more feminine attributes in women). I also tend to imagine they have an almost irrational hate-on for each other for a while, 'til they chill out and become sparring buddies, so I find it hard to factor in a relationship on top of that. Kind of a pass for me.

⚡️🌊MakotoxMichiru: i feel like I'll be repeating myself a lot here, so I'll skip to it. TLDR; you ain't Michiru's type. I can see an underrated friendship that could spur after year of reconciliation, but it would stop at a platonic boundary.

⚡️🕒MakotoxSetsuna: I'm def repeating myself. Though, I'd actually love to see them sewing together, that'd be adorable.

Minako

💛🗡MinakoxHaruka: no, I don't see it at all, sorry. They are buddies. Haruka's Mina emotional wreck puppy, she loves her and must protect her at all cost, but would prob hate to have to deal with in a romantic relationship. Haruka can match Mina's energy and spirit, but in a much more charming and almost naïve package. I see the two hanging out on a Friday night enjoying some cheap beer lovingly complaining/gushing about their partner to each other.

💛🌊MinakoxMichiru: ahah, this one's quite funny too. You're lucky if they aren't trying to kill the other. They are just too smart for their own good and they are really the only senshi who refuse to see each other for anything less than Minako as Sailor Venus and Michiru as Sailor Neptune. Like when I say Mina and Ami don't get along, they are still considering each other as basically 4 different individuals (human and senshi), in order to prioritize the mission and in a way as a coping mechanism. But Michiru and Minako, even when they do manage to be in the same room not sniping at each other, they still refer to each other as their senshi selves, even if the name they are calling is their human name. ... srry that was a tangent, yeah, I don't see it at all. Sorry, I don't really have much interesting left to say.

💛🕒MinakoxSetsuna: this one's sort of popular weirdly enough.. I don't really get it, but yeah, refer to UsagixSetsuna.

The Outers

🗡🌊HarukaxMichiru: I mean, what can I even say about this one that hasn't been said already a million times. I consider them the true miracle romance of the show (yes, I like Usamamo, but Harumichi is much better written). I adore how they play off the stereotypical femme and butch roles, while saying yes, but actually no and just doing their own unique thing instead. I find Michiru's fascination with Haruka uniquely intriguing, with Michi being such a complicated character onto herself and Haruka being deceivingly simple-minded. They don't seem like characters that were made just for being with each other; their motivations, experiences and morals are quite different, yet they collide so beautifully and seamlessly. I love everything about them, such a good blend of fluff, drama, tragedy and romance. NO. NOTES.

🌊🗡🕒🎇Outers family (SetsHaruMichi) (with kid Hotaru): ok, extremely hot take incoming, get ready cause I don't think ur gonna like it... I'm not a big fan of the happy outers family. Sorry, I don't hate it (in fact I find it pretty cute), but it's just not what I default to. Let me put aside Setsuna for a second and just explain it plain and simple that I just simply see her as an omniscient being not interested in an corporeal relationship that could interfere with her mission. She's just not human like the others are. Now, let me talk about Hotaru real quick. I've got some problems with her character in general, but that doesn't really matter. I just can't deal with having a character that powerful at a ready for plot convenience, it just kills all the tension and bloats the cast. The only way I'm ok with Michiru and Haruka caring for Hotaru is having them come to the decision themselves. No pushing from the other senshi, no guilt-tripping and no senshi duty related bs. Hotaru is a regular child now with a dead father, the decision is on them to adopt this child or to let her move on to another loving family, otherwise I just can't see it as anything else but 2 almost child murderers redeeming themselves by caring for the child they tried to kill and that just isn't healthy for nobody. Anyhow, not really a ship, but sort of counts, I could like it, but rewrite Hotaru. Give the kid some justice, damn it!

[megamind2010]

11 and 17… I have only passively observed caseybug but what I have seen fascinates me I need to know more

they fascinate me as well im glad other people have this experience too

11. How are they seen by people around them - family, close friends, colleagues, or strangers?

in the words of some of the people around her

dad: she's so smart and talented and strong but relies on herself too much. theres a tangible distance between us... but maybe thats how she wants it

alex: way too well-adjusted for all the shit we went through (and that i put him through). big fucking nerd but the hardest worker i know. above all... reliable

seb: literally the smartest person in the world so cool so awesome i miss when she used to pick me up and help me pretend to be superman even though i know she thinks superheroes are stupid

ted: insanely smart, talented, cool under pressure, determined to a fault. if they have one flaw it would have to be their severely underdeveloped funnybone!

michelle: craaazy talented and smart... but for some reason he hangs out with casey. so there must be a pretty big blind spot in that intelligence... I'M KIDDING!! DON'T TELL EITHER OF THEM I SAID THAT

booster: i don't get her :( she's so different to ted, i seriously don't understand how they get along so well?? obviously a competent hero and whatever but seems to have it out for me for some reason

coworkers: bishop... yeah... he's certainly got the brains for this job, and the old boss seemed to really take a shine to him. not one for after-work drinks though. pretty frosty in general. not that he's unprofessional! just clearly not interested in mixing work and personal life

other heroes: standoffish, prefers to work alone, sometimes pretty abrasive, but she's got ted's approval, so... ladybug's clearly one of the good ones

strangers: this guy on the train didn't even look at me when i said hello. what a bitch

and of course who could forget... casey: she's a bitch and so mean to me and a total embarrassment when it comes to PR and rude and spiteful and judgemental and ugly and stupid and pisses me off and tall and strong and lets me live in her apartment without paying rent and always saves me when i need her and... and... idk. i dont like her

17. What are three moments in their life that impacted your OC the most?

her mother dying for sure... nell was at home with alex and a babysitter when it happened so its not like she witnessed it or anything but it was definitely like. the moment her life trajectory changed

again another death that she didnt personally witness but found out about after the fact... ted dying. not so much of a material impact on her circumstances like with her mom but emotionally. Big stuff

hrmmm i could say "sending the first letter to casey" because that really was the first domino in a life changing sequence of events but it wasnt really impactful in and of itself... and casey in general is more of like. a slow acting poison or gradual mold growth than "one moment"... maybe casey leaving or making the decision to go and save casey after they broke up bc if he hadnt done that then caseybug would have simply ended forever and it was a big moment for Nell Emotional Awareness And Communication

honourable mentions: becoming ladybug, ted coming back to life, dying (felt like a cheat answer)

[mdhwrites]

How do you think TOH will hold up in the future? I imagine it will still have die hard fans aggressively defending it in spite of all its flaws. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that audiences are fickle. They’ll praise something like it’s a sacred masterpiece one minute, then turn a 180 and treat it like overrated trash the next.

So my immediate response was that it would end up like Danny Phantom or Kim Possible where some people will still love it so much as to make it what they do, some will remember it fondly and most will just forget about it and never bother going back for it. And I say that as a fan of both shows. Just... They didn't become cultural touchstones. It's very hard for most cartoons to do that. One could easily argue we haven't had one (for a new IP especially) since Gravity Falls or Steven Universe and you'd probably have a decent case for saying Gravity Falls still doesn't count compared to Steven Universe. This is probably what's going to happen to Amphibia even just because there's a lot of media out there so getting picked up as a household name that isn't forgotten is hard.

But... I think TOH will just kind of get forgotten. For most, the most special part of it is either that Luz made them feel seen, and for those the show will never fade, or the specific ships they cared about which will eventually get replaced. But I actually don't want to try to assume how the fandom will be in five years. Let's actually talk about, now that the show is said and done, the simple question of: How do you pitch watching TOH's final product? Because even the CURRENT fandom constantly has to use excuses for the storytelling. To justify it being special, they already have to narrow its scope like "the first gay main character in a Disney television cartoon" or they have to cherrypick what they're aiming against, like saying Belos' death is good because they don't like the SU ending or that Luz getting to keep her found family is unique because the only other isekai they've watched is Amphibia. That's all really hard as far as pitches in general go.

So what do you tell someone looking to get into it from the perspective of a fan? Do you warn them that some plotlines don't get resolved properly because of the shortening? How many elements do you have to prepare a new viewer for with that excuse? What's worse is... TOH is just a worse product now that it can be binged. Those who watched S1 before S2 came out got to revel in the best versions of these characters. Any potential Amity had though is crushed like her necklace two episodes into S2 and only becomes more and more obvious as the season goes and you don't have months of waiting between those two versions of Amity. You don't have multiple hiatuses between murder happy Collector and "What's death?" Collector which would make the contrast MUCH WORSE and much harder to ignore. In fact, because so many of TOH's character arcs rely on revisionism to just make an audience forget who a character used to be, binging it's going to make that process much harder in general. Future audiences are just more likely to notice the lack of effort in so many elements just because the whole show will be fresher in their minds.

And most of them won't have the fandom and the like to pull them along or tell them why certain things are the way they are, though not even the fandom always has answers. Why isn't the Grimmwalker reveal setup AT ALL unless you're combing literally ever element of each episode? And even then only once? Well... *shrug* But it's a big deal now so you better just be okay with that.

Frankly, as much as I don't want to be mean about this... I think being forgotten besides by the rose tinted glasses of the fandom is its best fate. Or that it will be known as a show that had a really good first season, a good first half of S2, and then dive bombed in quality, especially in S3, and that the only really notable thing about it is the sapphic ship between the main character and her love interest.

It is a show that only functions if you know the FULL context for it coming out. And even then, like with how much the fandom contracted during S2, let alone with each special of S3, that context wasn't even always enough to keep people watching.

So yeah, I think the fact that a lot media gets to just gracefully retire with its fans nowadays, since being a classic is so much harder when there's SOOOO much more media being produced, is probably going to be a boon for The Owl House. It can just be that little witch show for those who loved it and for those who disliked it... Well, something is always new on the horizon. I know I'm keeping my eyes out.

========

Okay so I wrote this last night. This morning I had errands to run and my sister helped me since she has a car. She convinced me to pick this up.

Looks cute. I was warned it gets dark eventually which... *looks at the goth art style* Totally couldn't have guessed. Also before anyone even thinks it: The comic originally began being published in 2015.

[la-pheacienne]

In "Fire and blood", Rhaenyra is 'good girl who turns bad because of all the injustices that were done to her', but in the show, Alicent is the one in that role.

Yes exactly. Ok big meta coming because I feel inspired, I'm sorry if it doesn't make sense.

Condal got caught up in this whole "this is not a legend, this is a Greek tragedy" kind of thing, he even said so. Greek tragedies are notorious for having multilayered storylines where everybody has kind of a point and a reason to do what they do and miscommunication/misunderstandings and errors of judgement are always a major catalyst in the plot. There are no true villains in Greek tragedies. There are antagonists though, because while everyone has "reasons" and "justifications" for their actions, that doesn't make their actions just. There is only one line of action that is truly just. That's the whole fucking point. You got to have one hero. Everybody is important but there is this one person the story is focused on, this one person the audience should really relate to/fear for/pity. That person in this particular story is Rhaenyra. If you put Alicent at the same place as Rhaenyra, or worse, at the place where Rhaenyra should be, you cause confusion and you fuck everything up. Both characters have reasons behind their actions but there has to be only one character that is in the right, and that is Rhaenyra. Both characters will be punished for their errors, the hero will suffer because of the antagonist first of all, and their own errors of judgement (tragic flaws) and the antagonist will then suffer for their vile deeds in relation to the hero. That's a Greek tragedy. Simple.

All of this is fucked up in HotD because the author of the source material established a clear antagonist (Alicent and her sons) and a clear flawed tragic hero (Rhaenyra). It was really simple in the books, it was really in your face. No matter how hard Condal tries, he cannot make his story (about males being the main antagonists and females being the victims) make sense. Because this directly contradicts the basic facts of the story he chose as a basis for his work. His story is another story, it is definitely not Fire and Blood. The problem is that the story in Fire and Blood is so superior and clear that the locals are completely oblivious to Condal's agenda, don't give a fuck about Alicent or Rhaenicent and obsess over Daemon and Rhaenyra because the facts are there, so is the soul of Martin's work, despite of all the show's efforts to the contrary. This is the right side. The right side will suffer because of fatal flaws, that's why it's a tragedy, but it's still the right side.

The biggest power of Greek tragedies is simplicity, something that is forgotten in modern media. In all of the characters' complexity, reasons, excuses and mistakes, there is one particular "hand" of truth and justice that comes and demolishes everything in its passing, and it's precisely that element that creates the tragedy. You can't avoid the truth, you can't avoid justice, you can't avoid fate even if you try. It's there, and it's so simple for anyone to see. That truth in Fire and Blood is that there is an heir to this throne, and that heir is Rhaenyra, named by her father in front of all the lords that gave an oath. The Hightowers are usurpers and traitors, they are not forced by anyone, they started it all on their own out of greed and they destroyed the tragic hero in the process. They were punished for it. These are the facts, and sorry to break it to Condal, but they make a better story that actually resembles a "Greek tragedy" and not a fanfic written by a 17 yo tumblrina who is obsessed with spiteful and victimised medieval lesbians.

[luthwhore]

Lena was a prominent figure in the comic, Superwoman. I think Lana was Superwoman in it. I was wondering if you’ve read it and what was your thoughts on it? Specifically the character, Lena

The few things I know about her is she’s a wheelchair user and one of the few people Lex Luther calls his equal, True Equal (not really sure about this one fact). It would also be appreciated if u could refer to a post talking about her in the lens of a disabled person, I’m (kinda?) sure there was one and i didn’t reblog it

Sure! So, I referenced by dislike for the Superwoman (2016) comic in my Lex comic rec list, but I haven't really gone into it on its own before, mostly because at the time I was reading it I was still getting into comics and hadn't really started doing a lot of liveblogging or commentary at the time.

I also want to preface my feelings on the ableism around Lena, both in this comic and in general, by saying that I am not physically disabled myself. I have several close friends who are, including a roommate who is an ambulatory wheelchair user, so disability representation is something that I try to be very aware of, but I am not of any kind an authority on disability issues.

Also, I'm talking about this arc mostly from a Doyleist perspective -- i.e., focusing less on the culpability of the individual characters and whether I think their choices are understandable or justified and more on the choices made by the real people writing the arcs. This is not a condemnation of Lena's actions; this is a criticism of the writing choices made around her.

Putting this under a cut because I realized this is getting very long.

For a bit of backstory, Lena had been ill as a child -- with what, it's never specified, but the implication is that it was something chronic -- and that in an effort to "cure" her when he was a teenager, Lex had inadvertently paralyzed her.

This is actually something that was introduced by Geoff Johns' during Forever Evil, and other than the kind of dehumanizing language of calling her an "invalid" (which will be a recurring thing), I don't hate it. Lex does clearly see his inability to cure her as a failure, but it presents him coming to terms with it and realizing that he wants to rekindle his relationship with Lena, presumably for the first time in many, many years.

I don't have a major issue with this writing choice, because prior to Forever Evil, n52 hadn't really broken much with the unambiguously evil version of Lex that had been presented since Crisis on Infinite Earths, so the idea that he had neglected Lena out of shame that he couldn't "cure" her doesn't seem terribly out of place, and it presents a nice moment of character growth for him.

Justice League (2012), also written by Geoff Johns, is the first time we actually see Lena. When we see her here, she's shown in a wheelchair, and sees to be working for Lexcorp.

You get the sense that in spite of genuinely loving Lena, Lex has a tendency to be far too over-protective of her, often keeping her in the dark about things, which is a dimension to their relationship I really like! Geoff Johns is known for taking inspiration from Smallville in a lot of his Superman comics -- there are a LOT of nods to the show when he writes Kon -- and this, to me, feels very much like Smallville-inspired characterization.

One thing that DC does, that tracks across Geoff Johns, Dan Jurgens, and Phil Jimenez's writing of Lex and Lena, is really, really focus on "curing" Lena. In spite of what he says to her at the end of Forever Evil, he still ultimately sees her disability as his fault, and therefore, sees her as something to be fixed.

You can definitely put this off as a character flaw of Lex's, and I'm definitely not arguing that it's not in character for Lex to want to do so -- but it IS worth noting that this arc was happening at the same time that DC was leaning hard into erasing Barbara Gordon's disability as well, so this not an isolated incident of DC treating disabled characters like they need to be "cured".

For context: Barbara Gordon was the first Batgirl, and after being paralyzed by the Joker, then took on the identity of Oracle and ran The Birds of Prey. However, after around two decades of her acting as Oracle and being established as a hero completely separate from Batman, DC aged her down, erased her disability, and relaunched her as Batgirl with the start of the n52. (Recent years have tried to walk this back a little, but there was almost a decade of her being written as having miraculously healed from her disability.)

(It also does make me think a little of the "Lexmas" episode of Smallville, where Lionel is willing to put Lex through a surgical with a very low survival rate rather than accept the prospect of his losing the use of his legs. This isn't relevant per se, but I do think it's an interesting similarity.)

Toward the end of Justice League (2012), there is a scene in which Lena, while in possession of a Motherbox, pulls a gun on Lex and tries to kill him, and it's left unclear whether she was being influenced by the Motherbox or acting of her own accord. This is technically the start of the arc that gets picked up in Superwoman (2016).

Afterward, she ends up in a coma from her use of the Motherbox, with Lex once again swearing to find a way to heal her.

We also get a really touching scene of Lex talking to Lena at her bedside and admitting that part of the reason he has decided to be a hero now is that he wants to make her proud, and he knows she wouldn't approve of his past actions. This feels in line with the characterization established in Forever Evil; Lena is Lex's only family, and she's the only person in his life he can earnestly say he loves.

So, this is where we are at the start of Superwoman (2016). Lex and Lena have recently reconnected, and Lex is trying to be a better person in large part because of his love for Lena. Lena tried to kill him, which Lex believes was due to the influence of the Motherbox, and Lena is put into a coma.

It does seem like Geoff Johns was setting up Lena to become a villain during Justice League, or at least the potential for it, which I have... kind of mixed feelings about. On the one hand, I do think there is an interesting tension there, because Lex kind of expects to just pick up his relationship with Lena where they left off, and I think using her as an antagonist for him could have been interesting. On the other hand, with how the previous several arcs had set up Lena as the entire reason for Lex's redemption arc, it seems like an odd choice?

However... that's not quite what they do. While getting revenge on her brother is clearly a priority for her in Superwoman, she also... just kind of wants to take over/destroy Metropolis? For reasons?

In Superwoman (2016), we find out that Lex had tried to heal her by experimenting on her, and that when the experiment didn't immediately work, Lex abandoned her. (I personally find that really out of character, given what we were shown about their relationship prior.)

And we are once again treated to a character in a wheelchair being cured of her disability. This time, specifically as part of a villain arc. Which is... a choice, I guess. If they were going to use her as an antagonist, I really wish they would have done so without erasing her disability, but that's DC for you.

I also feel like a lot of her emotional complexity is stripped out in favor of making her like... a #girlboss villain, which is pretty par for the course for something that came out in 2016. The characterization here just... doesn't feel congruous with the Lena we were shown before.

I personally think, whether they wanted to use Lena as a hero or an antagonist, it would have made for a much more empowering arc not to heal her of her physical disability and instead have her seek to prove to Lex that her disability isn't something that needs to be "fixed" and that she's still fully capable of operating on his level with or without the use of her legs.

I also think the choice to use her as a villain who just wants to take over Metropolis (ig as a way to prove that she's better than Lex? by succeeding at something he failed at?) was a mistake, because one of the core conflicts with Lex and Lena in Justice League (2012) was that... Lena disapproved of a lot of Lex's actions?

The message in the comic re: Lena's disability also just feels. Really muddled? Like. It almost says something important here -- the "I knew my body meant nothing to you if it wasn't a perfect reflection of your fantasies of what it should be, but it was mine" line is good!

I think in better hands, it could have been a really powerful story about Lena's bodily autonomy, and how no matter Lex's intentions, he was still ultimately making choices that should have been hers, to make, but it just got buried in the mess of her being a generic scenery chewing supervillain, and I think that message would have hit a lot harder if they hadn't "healed" her, and if they had focused more on giving Lex and Lena and emotional arc instead of just... having her do a bunch of villain monologuing before having Lex defeat her.

Anyway I hope the "Ultrawoman" arc gets retconned out at some point because this really felt like a waste of potential for Lena and I think she deserved better than just getting turned into a supervillain before being written out of the canon.

[time-is-restored]

73 yards thoughts

now that ive had a night to sleep on it, and read everyone's thoughts, im rewatching the episode to see if i can come to a more definite opinion about the episode (though that's perhaps against the spirit of the thing, lol!)

so a few moments that stood out for me that i don't think have already been talked about a lot:

when mrs twist shows up on the mountain, and ruby is giving her messages to pass along to the woman, she wants to say sorry. when mrs twist asks 'what for?' ruby looks genuinely thrown + upset, and eventually says '...i don't know.' since the woman/curse that haunts ruby is functionally an externalisation of ruby's deep seated sense that there is something fundamentally wrong with her, i think this interaction was super poignant. ruby 'knows' that she's done something that she needs to apologise for in the same way that she 'knows' there is something wrong with her that will make people react with fear + anger. there's no proof, no clear flaw or mistake that she can point to, because that's the point. the woman isn't saying anything specific -- there's nothing to say. noticing her (noticing a part of ruby that has a perception filter on it -- that is hard to see until you get close) just means that you see in ruby what ruby sees in herself. she is afraid that people will 'discover' whatever is wrong with her, and she'll lose them forever.

relevant to this is the fact that ruby didn't actually break the circle. if reading the messages is what summoned the woman in universe, then sure, she has culpability for that. but if it was breaking the circle, she had to live with the consequences of someone else's actions, and feeling guilt for something she didn't do. while im less confident with this reading, you could argue this is an allegory for her being given away. ultimately, that decision had nothing to do with her. she was literally a baby lmao. the idea that there's something wrong with her bc of her mother's decision is illogical -- doesn't follow reality, just like magic. she's spending her life trying to make up for a mistake she hasn't made (and, honestly, probably wasn't made. we don't know anything about her birth mother -- its more than likely that she wasn't fit to be a parent to ruby, no matter how human or supernatural the reasons for that were. but the facts of the situation don't matter here, in this liminal space. guilt and fear and shame bleed through the gaps. ruby could arguably be 'the spiteful one' the pub laugh about. she thinks she needs to be punished for something, and so the woman punishes her.)

following along this line, we know that ruby genuinely doesn't know what might have caused the woman to appear. she suggests trespassing, or breaking the circle, and gets the idea that reading the notes might have been wrong from the pub, but she never finds out for sure. unit doesn't know, or at least doesn't have the chance to tell her. the lack of closure ties in really well -- ruby has to carry a trauma that, even as she comes to terms with it, she can never truly explain or understand. even the partial amnesia at the end of the episode can be read as a sort of 'the body remembers what the mind forgets'. some part of her knows something terrible has happened, something that scarred her and left her alone for an immense amount of time (even if that time, in a literal sense, was undone), but she won't be able to put words to it. it seems that self acceptance - literally opening her arms to this *thing* that has haunted her her whole life,

now for some more rambly thoughts/things im still confused about

i genuinely think if not for the single shot of the episode reversing and old ruby now standing with her arms out on the cliff, i would have no problems with the themes of this episode. it was a powerful representation of rejection and fear that genuinely freaked me out (ruby running after her stone-faced mother while crying BROKE me), and i think it was a great character study of ruby. like others have said -- how many people would have stuck it out for that long? how many people would have never resented/blamed the doctor (or anyone, really) for leaving? and how many of THEM would've come to find a sense of companionship with their spectre?. ...however.

i can not wrap my head around the shot where time reverses and old ruby is looking out from the pov of the woman. it completely breaks my brain. i know at a certain point i should just accept that the woman can do whatever the story needs her to do, but there was nothing about time travel up to that point. it was all about physical and psychological boundaries. more than that, there was no indication that ruby was trying to make up for what had gone wrong. she didn't try and fix the circle, she didn't try and communicate with the woman at all beyond her first failed apology. on its own, i like this -- ruby becomes resentful of the woman quite quickly, which tracks as an expression of her poor self esteem. why would she try and get in the good graces of someone she rejects + dislikes? and again, i LIKE that she eventually treats her as a companion. all ruby has is herself, and she can never leave herself. getting to a point where she doesn't want the woman to go away, where she doesn't feel lonely while alone -- it makes sense that that is what heals the riff. i can write all that out in a way that makes sense to me. ruby makes a mistake (or witnesses a mistake) that makes the doctor disappear. she rejects herself, and in this liminal space, the part that she rejects manifests into reality. it haunts her for the rest of her life, even as she begins to wield what she thinks it says about her (that she's unloveable) to her advantage. when she accepts it, and integrates it back into herself, she is able to speak clearly to herself -- what she is thinking makes it across to young!ruby. when ruby thinks about the situation without the influence of self hate, she realises that the problem was the doctor's actions, not her own. she gets the message across, the doctor doesn't disappear, and the cycle never starts. the loop closes.

but. she wasn't one with the woman the whole time! if she was, the doctor would have never stepped on the circle -- the loop couldn't start, and so it wouldn't need to be closed. like, i know that we do a lot of paradoxes in this show and sometimes things are just gonna be Weird. but to me it's like if, in turn left, donna died in an unrelated car crash, then ended up back in time anyway. so why, if ruby has apparently accepted the woman by the time she visits the tardis for the last time, does the show bother with taking us back to the hospital and seeing old!ruby flatline? why doesn't the old woman come to her there, in that moment, so old!ruby is reaching across time but not space? if i squint, i could make an argument for the death. ruby's understanding of herself dies so a new, more accepting one can be born -- and obviously the timeline would fade away in the moment the loop is closed. but that's not what happens. old!ruby chooses hope and accepts herself, THEN goes back to the hospital, dies, then travels back to the past through time AND space (somehow, sure, i'll just accept the woman can do that), then communicates the message, then fades away. what changed between the visit to the tardis and her death? what do those few minutes possibly add other than the 'ive never been alone' line, which could've easily been written into the talk on the cliff? hell, she could've passed away right there on the cliff, if that needed to happen! but no matter how i twist it i can't understand why the old woman looked the same as it did before old!ruby merged with her, behaved + moved the same, and physically manifested when none of the criteria for its appearance had yet been met. im almost certainly overthinking it -- i can map everything else from this episode onto a psychological exploration of ruby and her fear. maybe the episode is saying that the woman was always there (at least to ruby), and old!ruby's self acceptance is what let the message get through??? but fuck i hate that she looks the same!!!! aghghhhghg! what changed! what changed! it looks like nothing changeddddd!!!!! <- deranged. they merged, there should be a sign of that beyond her hands being mirrored with ruby's.

tldr. if i could change anything about the ending of the episode, i'd take it in one of two ways. either have ruby merge with the woman while on the cliff and have ruby say something like 'now, what were you (or i) trying to tell me?' before cutting to the new timeline, or have the woman post merge look like old (or young!) ruby. she couldn't be seen because she was unknowable and (bc of ruby's schema) unloveable, so ruby conjured a generic older woman (possibly drawing from mother issues -- had to be someone at minimum old enough to be her bio mum). if she now looked like something specific, wouldn't that show old!ruby knew that what she feared was all bc she rejected herself? young!ruby could even have a line to go along with 'she looked like she was looking for someone', maybe 'i wanted to talk to her' -- just something small indicating that old!ruby's acceptance of herself was passed down in some small way, even if it certainly hasn't cured ruby of anything.

now for other theme/focus mutterings. i could spin something here about the fact that the doctor says the fairy circle 'is' charms and spells and hopes and dreams. ruby hopes and dreams that she can be accepted, and later, that she can bring the doctor back/undo the moment where it all went wrong. but the doctor also says that they should 'rest in piece'. so they're dead hopes and dreams, aka fears + regrets? so breaking it unleashed both the doctor and her greatest fears - the doctor of complete helplessness + impotence, and ruby of abandonment + rejection. because those fears stay buried in this timeline, ruby + the doctor's hopes (which in many ways are embodied in each other) can continue to live and be 'here', not drowned in the past.

also, the doctor implies the woman is 'resting in piece', out of nowhere, which i think is another indication of both ruby AND the doctor having knowledge from the split timeline. after all, old!ruby did die. so did the timeline where all that happened, i suppose. maybe that's the other angle for the fairy circle - it represents the fragility of a load bearing timeline. the hundreds of dead paradoxes and dead universes that spin off from time being written and unwritten as the doctor (and his companions) fixes whatever he can. let them rest in piece. forget what could've happened. forget what just did happen.

now for my other critique. i think the sexual harassment sub plot was cheap and shitty, and only served to be an incredibly lazy 'kick the puppy' moment to show that the prime minister was Evil™ levels of bad. in the process it showed no respect or care to victims of abuse, and pretty heavily implied that ruby had done nothing in the face of her peer being abused, because 'she had to make sure'. of what? that mad jack was a bad guy? watching him heavily imply he wanted to fire nukes wasn't enough to confirm anything? 'he's a monster' wasn't enough? why? what metric was she using, then? if she was waiting for him to be prime minister, why did she wait an unspecified amount of time AFTER he was elected, where he's clearly still abusing marti, to act? presumably the audience was already on team 'oh this guy sucks' by the nuke interview at the VERY latest, where it was also made clear that the guy was fearmongering about borders and all sorts of right wing bullshit. like, those are just the problems with it off the top of my head -- it fucking sucks, basically.

that all being said, i think ruby convincing herself that she only has 'one chance' works super well into the overall theme of ruby's understanding of the monster + her situation being tied to arbitrary rules she's decided help make the woman make sense. since this terrible thing happened when life was previously going fine, there must be a way to undo it and go back to the love and acceptance she had before. but there is no monster to slay that will trigger the end credits. there's just ordinary, shitty humans, and ruby herself. she can't uncross the boundary of pre-and-post trauma. and as long as she thinks there is something she has to make up for, the world where she is being punished will keep ticking along. i just wish it had been communicated in a different context!!!

side note. does anyone else want to come live with me in a world where 'it never snowed again' means that snow never occured again anywhere in the world. yes its way more likely to think that ruby's referring to instances of spontaneous snow linked to her emotions. but can you IMAGINE hardening your heart so entirely after being rejected by your mother that you change the climate of planet earth?? holy shit!

[sneverussape]

Rarepair Tag Game

@snapesnailtape tagged me for this and imma give it a go. thank you, snail! :)

no pressure tags go out to @wellpresseddaisy, @greens-your-color, @momo-t-daye, @mmad-lover and @owlzerness, but anyone who wants to do this, pls feel free.

answers and fic recs under the cut!

--

i don't have a lot of time or bandwidth to read to read fics outside of my main fandom at the moment (my evergreen trash man, sev) so i'll focus on that. if i think up any other rarepairs from other fandoms, i'll include them, but the fact of the matter is a lot of the other fandoms i'm in don't have quite as diverse a set of characters as this universe, so it's not as easy.

also general disclaimer that i read any and all pairings as long as the plot interests me, so i've probably seen this man shipped with everything at this point :)))

without further ado and in no particular order --

snilch. trust me, i wasn't sure about this pair either but, as with many others, the fic Father to the Man by Delphi absolutely floored me and convinced me of its potential. i think i read The Lad is Gone shortly after and it was just...i was sold. sold, i tell you. adjacent readings that i can recommend is one where filch is the main character but sev shows up a lot in it too: ozma's Squib series on ff net is fantastic. (also features filch accidentally almost killing sev with his newfound powers and rolling in guilt for it)

snetunia. this is just a delightful and guilty little pairing that i absolutely love. they're more alike than they are different, given their personalities and their view of the world. petunia is cynical, hateful and spiteful, and is an excellent mirror to snape and his own flaws. A Part of Yesterday is one of my fave fics for them and so is Abide in Me (Love is Not Enough). A Fish Without a Bicycle satisfied a sense of fluff and Always is a poignant little fic wherein they're all miraculously friends, which was a refreshing change.

snagrid. just rediscovered this quite recently actually because i remember there used to be a site dedicated to this pairing. Thief in the Night rekindled my love for it. there's just something about a gentle giant and an acerbic potions master with their massive size differences and the fact that hagrid really doesn't care for sev's frilled-lizard act that makes for fun reading. they also make for good friendship fics, like in It Was the Tea!

stonks. it was @chiwi-la-capybara's story, The Itch, that really hooked me into this pairing. i loooove the dynamic and potential they have, with tonks being a clumsy and fun-loving cop while sev is just...the way he is. :)) Escape is a good action-filled fic too and has them both playing the roles they're assigned to play.

toby/eileen!!! you know i had to put this in. i count them a rarepair because i'm of the what-if-toby-and-eileen-actually-did-get-along line of thinking. one of the most recent ones i've read is Over the Edge which i think captures their relationship(s) perfectly.

i've lost so many good fics over the years due to forums shutting down and links being thrown to the wind but if y'all have other recommendations for these pairings pls share! :)

[greekbros]

people be like: we want complex characters in greek mythology!

Yet they can't handle Zeus or any other character who acts morally grey :)

(you have no idea)

(this post will be as much of an analysis on the issue as it is also a pieces of writing advice. It's all mostly opinions)

(the problem is that a good chunk of people are in the mindset of modern-day moral standards.)

(Although it is a good thing to recognize problematic behavior, reevaluated and in the long run try to reconcile with that behavior.)

(it's also good to recognize what is considered by our standards incorrect behavior, however that's not usually the case in reality.)

(how mythology reflects reality is a more complex thing than most people take it for. Of course it's going to be weird sounding to hear that "oh the king of God's cheated on his wife several times and turned into animals while having sex with those women" completely out of context is extremely weird I'll be at even morally dubious.)

(but there's something we need to consider, not only these figures are a reflection of certain standards, morals, and realities of that setting, but they were also representations of what not to do. For starters, we don't 100% know what most of the context of mythology really is because it could have been lost to time due to its oral traditional nature)

(this is something that people don't take into consideration or just outright ignores because it's mentally easier to assume something on the basis of modern lenses.)

(the truth of the reality is that people want something to entertain them but they don't want something that challenges them.)

(it's completely fine to be happy with your own story and fiction and even go as far as to writing a different story in the way that you want it to be, but I do find it extremely problematic regardless if it's Greek mythology or any other cultural folklore that people deliberately misinterpret or villainize the characters without having a proper understanding of not only the cultural context behind those characters motives but not understanding that these are supposed to be the reflections of a society we will never be able to understand let alone recreate accurately)

(the truth of the matter is a lot of things prior to a retelling or something a little more complex that wasn't made for the masses but for a certain audience often times have complex and challenging things)

(in fact the situation could be due to the modern expectations of what is morally good or even what the audience wants to be morally good.)

(I don't think in any part of the original mythology Zeus's antics were played for laughs. Some of them had serious consequences. Hera obviously having completely good reasons to react. But there were other moments in Hera perspective where it was clear she too acted just as reckless as Zeus. There's also there dynamic)

(being a goddess of marriage, it would be a failure on her part to divorce him, yet it would also be an absolute failure on Zeus's part to not fully uphold their marriage properly. In the context of mythology, Zeus is enacting his urges as a man, not a god or a king. Meanwhile, Hera enacts one of women's most iconic follies....wrath. yes women are angry, they can be angry and most often should be allowed to be angry.)

(at first it sounds like a battle of the sexes, but the truth is...well....both can switch roles and in a sense from a writing perspective.... nothing would change.)

(Both characters are flawed, and it would be completely pointless to use gender in this context, because there are other characters in mythology who have done the same things but do not get the same blame.)

(we do not feel sorry for the Kings and husbands of women Zeus have had relations with and we CAN NOT forget the equally spiteful female characters in mythology as well.)

(I like to understand mythology in the same way that anyone can understand a more complex story, from the beginning of Greek mythology, the gods and titans have always been a bit spicy personality wise. That also goes for how they created humanity and what purpose did humanity serve to them. The reality is humanity was created within their image and also essentially to serve the gods in a certain sense in terms of the Prometheus myth. As the story hits on the topics of human nature, behavior and how the gods had chosen each of these traits for humanity.. it's kind of clear that it's not that we should be judging them as supreme beings but we should be understanding that they are probably not meant to be understood to begin with.)

(like ....do you hear any of the humans in this story do some of the silly shit the gods do? Not really.)

(The Gods are just weird, they can do some things we can't, buuuuut they do have their rules. Literally, the Theoi from my understanding is comparable to the Bible in terms of the type of stories it conveys along with the morals. And I believe there are some aspects of the Olympians that do contain their own rules. I think a notable one is that there should never be child sacrifices as per the myth of lycaon.)

(but most people would never dive as deep as I personally would do, if I do not understand what it's going on in a story, I just go and look for that information for myself and do my own research. The unfortunate nature of mass media and wanting to make a story for the masses, especially during modern times... Is that people want to be entertained but have the expectation to not be constantly challenged with opinions or views that they don't personally like or accept.)

(just to avoid a slippery slope thought here, this usually just applies to moral complexity of characters in the context of cultures and periods that are too far away for us to properly form a social opinion on and have very little records of. )

(By no means am I mentioning World war II we are going to ignore that because it's clear what happened there happened and there is enough documentation of the moral atrocities that had happened)

(the issue with mass media consumption is that often times at least to at least three branching issues. Either the mass in question starts to form their own homogeneous assumptions about the past in an incorrect way, either the producer of said media itself is perpetrating an incorrect or falsified image of the past for profit, or as what I've noticed some cases happen, there is an ongoing Miss interpretation of the source material due to a lack of historical context, cultural understanding or in many cases just a complete lack of context clues.

(the issue of edutainment comes to mind, the idea of entertaining the masses while educating them is a balancing act that most of the time backfires due to how much the producer wants to make profit rather than leaving an important message. Sometimes the concept of moral ambiguity is lost within that process)

(but what people nowadays tend to do is treat modern Media or retellings of anything as a sort of "one size fits all" plot or in some cases that I have personally noticed, a custom order fanfiction.)

(It's upsetting because in truth there is room to make mythological characters like Zeus and others to have their good qualities while simultaneously having morally dubious alignments.)

(The truth is that every single one of these characters in any single mythology for that matter is complex because they all represent a role in life.)

(and life is complicated, I don't want to be cheesy about it but that's the reality)

(my apologies for the really long answer is just as it's one of the things I like to discuss because it's not even a nuance take, this is a type of analysis that requires a lot of consideration and a bird's eye view from what's going on not only with these retellings but with media in general)

(of course there are some retellings that are actually pretty entertaining and there are some that put an interesting perspective onto the mythology itself, but to take those good retellings as a perfect representation of the mythology or the end all to that interpretation is a very dangerous thing to do)

(literally this week I watched a Hercules movie that released last year and it was like the worst possible adaptation of the Heracles myth I have ever had The misfortune to watch. If the movie decided to rename every single character to just generic Greek names, it actually would have been an entertaining film. But because I personally know how that mythological story goes and then I see how many things they've decided to butcher for the sake of entertainment, really drives a nail in my head)

(yet there are interpretations that actually you're pretty unique, and this is going to sound controversial, but Dwayne The Rock Johnson's version of Hercules was the most interesting out of my weird opinions here, mostly because it is a movie that perfectly depicts how a grounded situation could become a legendary story)

(so long story short with that terrible take, it is literally "what if Hercules was real and if he was how did he pull it off" movie)

(the problem is that I think people are not ready to properly take the conversation of moral ambiguity and mythology and a mature sense let alone an academic one)

(by no means am I yelling at anyone to not enjoy any of this media, in fact it's because of this media that people tend to become interested in this type of topic of mythology. I just wish the idea of looking past the retelling and being curious enough to know what the accurate information is was more commonplace amongst enjoyers of mythology rather than a source of criticism)

[avelera]

Hi hi it's given sanctuary anon again I've been busy with life and I come back to 3!! New chapters?? I feel so spoiled. I haven't entirely caught up yet but im just about tearing up over dreams talk with Lucienne. I have a soft spot for "Character realizes they've hurt those they care about, feels horrible about it, and tries to do better" and you write it so well! I read a lot of hob/dream fics so of course they are the focus, but theres so much to explore with Lucienne too! She probably bears the brunt of dreams moods and she still stands by him with nearly love and loyalty, (though it was so satisfying to see her actually be upset with him in the show) it's very mirrored to hobs situation i feel?

Aaah, my favorite Anon is back!! :D :D :D

It's funny, I was talking with my amazing beta @thornfield13713 a little about Dream's growth arc in the story. "Giving Sanctuary" really is about giving Dream an alternate redemption/growth arc from the canon storyline of "getting captured and tortured and forced to face his own flaws against the backdrop of losing everything" which sort of hampers his realization and growth because he's so wrapped up in rebuilding his realm and getting his tools back that the fact he's decided to change and be better towards people like Lucienne and Hob is sort of one change of many that's happening.

Because yes, as you say, Lucienne absolutely is a saint for bearing the brunt of Dream's acerbickness over the years.

(Cut for some "Giving Sanctuary" behind the scenes rambling)

Giving Sanctuary also bears at its heart the thesis that Dream's cruelty and callousness had strong roots in the loss of Orpheus. He could be spiteful and full of rage before that, as a capricious god, but the being who is exhausted of this world, contemplating ending his existence, and delights at the prospect of making Hob hate living as much as he does with the curse of immortality is a result of Orpheus's death. And thus, what breaks that shell and allows him to see what he has become is Hob reaching out a hand and commiserating with him over this shared pain.

And I admit, I agonize a bit over whether Dream is changing too quickly, but there is a Doylist element of "Maybe, but this is self-indulgent so he'll change as quickly as I damn well please, so long as I've earned it within the story" and a Watsonian "Well, the events of the show take place over a similarly short time so far, and Dream is super distracted from his own growth post-fishbowl with all the other stressful events. Maybe he would be apologizing, checking himself, trying to do better and be better with those who love him sooner if he had the space and will to do so."

Furthermore, GS takes place so far in very private, interior spaces, where Dream is, for the most part, only ever dealing with the few people who love him most and who most respect his privacy, and all of these interactions are happening in the kind of solitude Dream would want and need to begin to tentatively work towards making these overtures of improvement. Hob won't laugh at Dream for trying to be better with him, neither will Lucienne, and while Death might tease, she at least can pull rank if Dream gets bitchy about his pride with her.

But Dream of the Endless, Morpheus, the Lord of the Dreams and King of Nightmares is still there. We just don't see him as much in GS because we mostly see him through Hob's eyes and around those he's most motivated to make amends to, like Lucienne. But, in theory, if an enemy crossed his path, if a dream or nightmare challenged him, if a stranger mocked him for going soft, we would see just how much the Dream everyone knew is still very much there. He's only decided to be better with those closest to him. The tragedy of Dream's depression up to the point of GS is that it robbed him of even interacting with those who care for him in a positive manner, like Hob and Lucienne.

And at risk of spoilers, I will say that Dream (and Hob) still has a ways to go. We're going to see some emotional beats besides Dream and Hob being sweet and perfect to each other all the time, very soon. Doesn't mean they're not good for each other. Just means they're still human (sort of) and not all progress is made at once.

Lucienne is perfect, though. That's of course a given ;)

[eirikrjs]

Forgive me if this has been asked before but I was hoping to get some elaboration to why you think Desu2 characters are flat. I understand some are, but I feel as though most have quality, or maybe I'm confusing likability with quality. I feel like most of my issues of the game come from lack of intersection with the fate links and main story rather than the characters themselves, but I'd appreciate to hear your thoughts

So, to answer this generally, when I was writing up the character section for the Fan Myths last year, I drew upon what I was taught in school about flat vs. round characters. But one source I found said something that really left me shook, in a way:

It says in its discussion of flat characters (those that are "superficial" and "predictable") versus round characters (those that are "complex" and more like actual people) that Luke Skywalker is a flat character. I weighed it for a bit, contrasting with how Luke makes choices and changes even in the first film, but in the end I couldn't disagree. Luke is styled after mythic heroes who, while they may suffer and grow over the course of their stories, are symbols of human ideals, not realistic human behavior. Luke is likable because we can vicariously live the adventure through him and his relatable and archetypal flaws and quirks, in spite of never being allowed too closely into his headspace and emotional spectrum.

Another Star Wars character that contrasts well with Luke is honestly one of my favorites of the Disney era or anytime before really, because he's so atypical for the franchise. He's not a hero, not worthy of admiration. In fact, he's pathetic and contemptible. And, as we learned last week, he's a creepo stalker guy. Of course, he's Syril Karn from Andor.

His story is far from over, but so far he's all flaws and I've found him fascinating. His might be the narrative developments I look forward to the most every week. And while there are no internal monologues in the show, Andor's effective writing gives Syril more complexity than you would expect for a (seemingly) tertiary Star Wars character. He gets his clothing specially tailored to stand out. He desperately seeks recognition and oversteps boundaries and his own ability to earn it (it so far has always backfired). He's committed to the fascist ideals of the Empire but can only land a faceless and monotonous data processing job and only through his uncle's connections. There are more angles to Syril than these, yet Luke has just one.

I won't say Syril is a round character yet, but he has that potential. Unlike Luke, he's layered and his future is unpredictable. His story may have some logical end points but he's not a hero or protagonist, so there's no guaranteed outcomes. It is odd to think that there may be more depth to Syril than Luke freakin' Skywalker, but Andor also has a far different approach an aims than the main Star Wars movies, so it may be apples and oranges.

But as the above article states, flat characters can still be likeable. I mean, I own maybe three dozen Luke Skywalker action figures so it's fair to say I like that character. The problem with flat characters from pop culture avenues like movies and games is that their superficialities often result in overuse of archetypes. I will say I don't care for a lot of characters in games like Devil Survivor, Persona, or even SMT because I've seen their archetypes before. There often is no attempt at additional complexity because it wouldn't fit the genre and expectations of an established game series or sequel. Hence, these characters become predictable and rote, which affects enjoyment of the work.

And speaking of action figures, pop culture characters reflect them in that they are manufactured to be appealing to their audiences. Even if they are flat and superficial, they still appeal because they are designed to be, from character design to familiar archetype. And that's okay! We might lose our minds if we rejected all but the most complex characters. So if you can buy merch of them, there's a real chance the character isn't all that deep.