#is it because the main characters don’t actually contribute much to the plot except for fucking things up and complicating them

[natasha-barton]

My mum just asked me what I actually like so much about good omens???? Like it’s not completely obvious?????? She’s watched the show three times oh my god

[dkniade]

I’m doing a rewrite of Shadows Amidst Snowstorms I think. I’m taking a scalpel and breaking down the canon plot and storytelling, taking the themes and backstories, and putting them together in a tighter plot. ……I’m basically doing a “Rhinedottir” here haha

Though if the story were to follow my vision of it then it’d probably be rated R17+ because of:

Warning: canon-typical themes of trauma, human experimentation, abuse, abusive parent, character death, violence, body horror

Sigh… This isn’t the actual outline and more so organised rambling, but hear me out.

‘Cause you see, I’ve realized that it’s not that Eula, Amber, and Bennett are “boring” characters, but the way they’re placed into the canon plot is like forcing puzzle pieces together thus making them feel “insignifiant”. They’re also the reason why Albedo constantly drags us aside and loredumps his past on us ‘cause he can’t talk when the other three are around even though they don’t contribute much to the plot.

But if you remove them in canon plot then it just leaves Albedo and Subject 2, except maybe the suspense and mystery would be way low now, since it’d be just Albedo & Traveler ft Paimon vs Imposter Albedo & Fellflower Albedo.

That plot still works but… I just think Eula, Amber, and Bennett have a lot of unused potential (……kind of like an unpolished Starsilver) as Guerrilla & Reconnaissance* knights and a skilled adventurer who knows danger, going into Dragonspine which is like the definition of danger in Mondstadt.

It’s quite surprising… Usually I write short stories with like three characters max but this cast is very interesting the more I think about it. Am I really willing to write with a cast of (counts MAIN: Traveler, Albedo, Primordial Albedo, SUPPORT: Paimon, Eula, Amber, Bennett, Fellflower Albedo, MENTIONED: Rhinedottir, Durin) ten characters my god

*English localizations of Reconnaissance Company (Eula) and Outriders (Amber) are mistranslations

Because here’s the thing…

The difference (taught to me) between story and plot is that

story is what happens in-universe in chronological order; plot is how action unfolds before us as the audience.

So the STORY is that Albedo and imposter Albedo are products of genius bastard alchemist Rhinedottir’s Primordial Human Project. This is an extremely tragic and dark story about human experiments and neglect all in the pursuit of knowledge and perfection. This is a story where a character was left to die in a dragon’s stomach because he wasn’t perfect enough in the eyes of his creator/master, where he literally wants to replace/kill his successor and take his identity, where said successor stabbed a mutated plant-monster-person on-screen just to keep his friends and teammates safe.

So why does the canon PLOT feel… lighter, despite that long list of content warnings I had to put? Why did I feel… vaguely disappointed at the plot?

The answer lies in the plot’s execution, surely.

(And mischaracterization of trauma but that’s a whole other topic.)

[writerofjourneys]

My Rants: Honest Opinions

My Problem With KaSumi|re Yoshizawa/Violet

A/N: If you just love to make hate messages over personal thoughts over what someone thinks and are willing to accept the character that is being written about, who you don’t even know, on their posts just because of it then what’s even the point of having a matter of honest opinions anyways?

Fandom(s): Persona 5: Royal

Summary: Yoshizawa rubbed me off the wrong way since the moment I saw her. I immediately got the sense of ‘Market Seller Waifu For Increase In Sales For Royal’ after seeing her unoriginal thief getup. And I’m unapologetic to admit that she’s my LEAST favourite character despite the amount of positive reviews she’s had after Persona 5 Royal’s release and the hate attacks on anyone who thinks differently. She really does have potential. And I couldn’t stop thinking about it after the Atlus announcement for Xbox and PC. Then I figured, I thought to finally expel these annoying thoughts in order to release my pent up frustration and understanding of her away and my perspective changing, not a lot, but changing somewhat.

So here’s why.

Warnings: Spoilers for Persona 5: Royal.

My Conversations with Others Regarding This Topic (think of it like extensions from this post): 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Main Masterlist

Or as I call her: the tropey Doormat Kohai.

I know. I put her in my story but things will be different as the chapters progress. I am actually interested in how her character adds to the game’s story, but it really only happens for Third Semester. But how Atlus did her involvement feels like wasted potential. A rewrite would help, I think.

The only time she really does anything in the real world is defend and help Joker when he is arrested, but ALL his confidants do that! They’re supposed to do those things after he deepens his bonds to max level, there is nothing new or unique about it with her!

A side note: I find it humorous that crossovers adding Yoshizawa just have to be emphasized with Royal and not simply Persona 5 even though Royal is Persona 5 in general, or I suppose to emphasize update.

Her very presence is a shoehorn. Her appearances never really feels natural. She just pops in and out whenever she wants. I would’ve honestly forgotten her if it wasn’t for Third Semester.

Her looks are an uncreative and reusable mix of FeMC, Mitsuru, Yuko and from P3.

Overly attached to Joker because he’s pretty much the only person she wants to revolve around in her life. She hardly interacts or befriends anyone else. Her gymnastics club members, classmates, other schoolmates, her parents who barely show relevance to her personally, other honour students (there’s no way in hell she’s the only one), and the thieves. As Kasumi, for someone who acts like an extroverted socialite it doesn’t really make sense as to why she doesn’t. Which might be because any acquaintance feels off about her because of her cognition that they don’t talk to her but I don’t get how pretty much anyone doesn’t even have a simple conversation with her. But it’s probably just a front for her Sumire side. But if she truly wanted to be everything Kasumi was, then having that socialite behaviour would’ve made sense. Kasumi’s extrovert personality is the main point about what it means to imitate her. Her mentality was ALL about her obsession with Kasumi, before and after her death. The way her brain works is weird with Maruki’s mind powers.

And about the thieves; they, for some reason, blindly love her so much after only meeting, like, twice in the real world. They don’t know her as much and have rarely interacted or hung out outside the Metaverse. Not as much or as close to as Joker. She kind of bypasses them.

She does not contribute anything to the main plot except for 3rd Semester. Which is at the end of the game. Her first entrance to “save” Joker in Sae’s Palace was wasteful. He’s, not counting Mona, the most experienced fighter out of all the thieves. Joker did not need her help in any way shape or form. P5 vanilla proves that, he didn’t need any of the other thieves as backup when he was evading the Shadows. He’s the freaking main character! Joker’s supposed to have the spotlight for the player. She even said it herself that she’s not a member of the Phantom Thieves so she has no right to interfere, and interferes anyway. It’s just a lazy introduction to a new character. Why is her All-Out Attack the first we even see?? And that gives the thieves a reason to have her for their “Hey, We Saved The World From Corruption By Taking Down a False God” party? She didn’t even help in the fight with Yaldabaoth. So I could hardly count her as a member.

KaSumi/re’s social link for the first couple of ranks go the SAME route. You do a family friendly activity, she falls into her so called “slump”, you cheer her up, she promises to work harder than ever, and the cycle repeats five times to the point where it’s predictable and easy to gain her rank up. How is that interesting? She phrases her slump like it’s a small thing that she doesn’t know the cause for, hindering her performances and believing that it’s a lack of confidence.

There was nothing off about her being Kasumi in the first place that led to the indication that she wasn’t actually Kasumi. Her attitude stays the same, perky, polite, overly positive, being an airhead (that goes for Sumire too. Seriously, how does one take crappy code names as Appetite and Leotard into actual consideration? How do unused scenes like Akechi suspecting her as the Palace Ruler because of her association with said Palace being about one who craves attention and just let it slip by her?) the foreshadowing monologue could just be something to add for her backstory if a player didn’t think about it much. Nothing really showed that anything was wrong in her happy go lucky world aside from the few interactions she has with Maruki. Which still hardly makes a difference. Their connection feels loose. Though it didn’t matter if her reveal would’ve happened or not, Sumire just goes back to being the SAME person as when she first started in the true ending. What were all those 120 hours of progress for..?!

Morgana wanting to recruit her then changing his mind because of Shido makes me deadpan. The thieves faced a perverted and abusive P.E. teacher, a manipulative and gaslighting artist, the freaking mafia, and a selfish and money-hungry CEO father! Everyone had their own lives on the line each! What makes Yoshizawa’s any different..?! I just don’t get it. Didn’t that cat say that powers in numbers is a good thing after recruiting Ann? That whole conversation after Maruki’s Palace was pointless, because it meant nothing for the main story after she decides to want to join and is turned down.

Her reason for awakening is weak and contradictory. Because, when voices of people who talk poorly of her, her motivation for awakening is that they spoke down on the dream she shares with her sister. That is not a strong and a good enough reason to even summon a Persona. This goes completely against P5’s themes and it doesn’t work. KaSumi/re never even cared about their opinions anyways, she even vocalizes this as a statement and brushes off them off all the time. And her potentially losing her honour student status was her own fault. Even with her second awakening being more meaningful, it still doesn’t justify having a “Spirit of Rebellion”. She could’ve done that without having her “true awakening” and it still would’ve worked. It didn’t make sense for her to even have a Persona when she became a scatterbrain for almost a year. It doesn’t add up, she committed to being Kasumi, that’s against who she actually is. P3 is facing mortality, P4 is facing the truth, P5 is facing against an unjust society, impacting them personally that it becomes a motivation for courage. Everyone in SEES, Investigation team, and the main Phantom thief crew follow these guidelines, I don’t understand why the scenario had to be changed.

Her thief outfit is nothing but a market seller for Royal. Atlus even admits it in their interviews. The only symbolism it has is that she admires Joker so much and sees him as a spitting image of rebellion that she replicates her attire to his, including keeping her Kasumi ponytail. Even Atlus admits this in their interviews that her outfit was just a market seller! The only thing original about it is the leotard because she’s a gymnast. And when she finally awakens as Sumire (though not really), her outfit stays the same, hair the same, Persona the same. There is no visible representation of Sumire showcasing individuality that separates her from Kasumi/re. Not even a small one. Which is a clue to how she goes back to looking the same as when she was in the beginning. Character development what now? Violet is the same way, Kasumi with just a mask on.

She got to have a magical girl/sailor moon transformation for what? Fan service. Which doesn’t fit with the game’s themes and aesthetics whatsoever but her Persona is Cinderella so sure, why the heck not? (sarcasm) Heck, if that were the case then the thieves should’ve gotten the same treatment. The idea of watching Ryuji do a spin is too amusing for me. Yusuke could pull it off given his theatrical eccentric side.

Black just doesn’t seem like Yoshizawa’s colour palette. There’s no reason for wearing black when the only time she does wear it is her Shujin blazer and that’s it.Gymnasts don’t really wear plain black either; it’s usually with a flashy design that comes with dark and light colours, or one with a simpler look. Her leotard being plain black is too… simple? Purple works since she actually wore that for her gymnastics. Everyone somehow loves the inaccuracy of her in a sleeveless leotard that showcase an exaggerated body that isn’t her at all, they seem to like using her just for their perverse entertainment, (then again pretty much every female fictional character is like that so this isn’t anything new or a big deal anymore, I don’t know, I can’t be bothered to give a crap knowing that the media does whatever it wants), when gymnasts always wear sleeves. And the internet loves to debauch her for the most dull and impractical suit in Persona, a great advertisement to promote the game. This is just a notice I have over her costume.

Her showtime is weird. (Plus, why can’t Joker have a showtime that gives him the spotlight?) So she jumps into his arms for a spin as he shoots down enemies, tosses her to make this strange performance with her deceased sister (does that mean she’s actually touching air and Kasumi is all in her head?), and pulls Joker to twirl her into a dip. Just how deprived of his attention are you? Did Nintendo really have to give us the unnecessarily pointless scene of Yoshizawa’s dancing and her showtime as part of P5’s trailer of branching out to other consoles? Akechi’s showtime clip hardly balances that out considering it was short and at the end.

What was the whole point of that ridiculous dance cutscene of her and Joker? A shoehorn by Atlus as ship bait between the true star of the game and an in-and-out character. Why weren’t any of the Shujin students of the thieves there? Or Mishima? We just get a fancy flashy dance animated cutscene purely showing off Sumire. Maybe I missed the reason.

Sumire’s backstory is just a recycle from the other girls’ story arcs. Especially Lavenza, who goes on to have an identity crisis herself where she is split into TWINS. I find that no body that I’ve seen has mentioned this. As a standpoint, we didn’t need another twin story AGAIN.

Her connection to Cendrillon is off and strange. Which is ironic since she’s actually the jealous sister. All the stories of Cinderella have many things in common: she’s a waif, she is looked down on by her household, verbally abused, put into forced labour, shown to be a genuine person, and is saved by a man who solves all her problems. All these bad things in Cinderella’s life happens TO her out of jealousy, spite, and cruelty. Sumire goes through none of that. She has a sister who does care about her, and parents that care about her, too. There is no ill mistreatment anywhere done TO her from when she was Sumire before Shujin. But I guess it’s a minor thing where she’s like Cinderella’s stepsisters. The thing she said about Kasumi making the decisions for her, like her clothes, is because Sumire lets her. She could’ve said anything at anytime and Kasumi would’ve listened. Sure, she is implied to be overbearing who couldn’t read between the lines. But they’re siblings! Twins for crying out loud! They would’ve spent everything together knowing each other’s quirks, habits, and flaws. Yet Sumire puts the image that Kasumi is perfect in every way (Mary Sue) when she’s spent years learning all about her twin. Sumire’s a Mary Sue for the fact that everything she does or doesn’t do is positively received no matter the situation. There’s no consequence or anything. There’s also the fact that there doesn’t seem to be any ground reason as to why Sumire has an inferiority complex over her sister other than that Kasumi is considered the better gymnast. They trained the same but Kasumi came out on top. Perhaps that could be the reason for her lack of confidence as Sumire. Depression can happen to anyone, of course, but her large amount of jealousy of Kasumi feels kinda off in the writing aspect. It’s ALL over her sister more so than herself. And since we only get to see Real Kasumi once, ONCE, we don’t know the dynamics of their relationship. She and Cendrillon share a few things: they go to a ball pretending to be someone else, a chance to have their lives be what they want, and is saved by a man who solves all their problems. Joker saves her by revealing the truth of her identity, and her coming back as Sumire after almost a year of being brainwashed. Though the same can be applied to Maruki as she sort of consented to the identity crisis, and tried to stop Joker from undoing so. That part’s understandable, don’t get me wrong. But what, after a short timespan when the thieves rescue her she figures herself out and then suddenly accepts Kasumi’s death with a big ole speech? Sure, she talks about it with Joker, and while it’s nice to have someone to talk to about these things, that doesn’t magically solve all of a person’s problems in one fell swoop. Sumire should’ve gone back to therapy with an actual therapist, and talked honestly to her parents about her mental problems and sort and heal from the burdens she’s carried. She doesn’t struggle much from being in her own skin again. Joker isn’t the center of her existence! She feels like an imaginary friend from all the times she’s around Joker and no one else. To me, her interactions with the thieves happens more in the Metaverse. Having Cendrillon as her Persona just feels off in some ways, considering that her Persona doesn’t change after reclaiming herself as Sumire.

I’m sorry (not really), but saying Joker is her ‘Prince Charming’ does not really fit. It demeans Joker’s story and his character. He’s a rebel, he’s forced to live in a rough situation out of his control, he’s had to play the role of not standing out, be invisible and blend in, control his own behaviour and actions in public. But we all know Joker does not have a ‘princely’ personality. More so the opposite. He hides his real feelings under a facade in most cases. He’s pictured as her ‘Prince’ because he’s pretty much the only person who interacts with her, who’s there, who basically solved all her problems for her. Which is why she ‘falls in love’ with him. The thing I’ve never liked in the Third Semester is how little everyone cared for Joker when they lived the illusions of perfect lives. It was only because they went through sufferings and hardships that they depended on him so much, but it changes in reverse after everything he did for them. Which is just so damn shallow! What does that say about who they really are? Joker deserved more that! He’s not a crutch! Sumire is no different either. She’s the same circle we’ve always known. Joker is literally depicted as a sort of ‘antihero’, given the whole Phantom Thief role, Arsene, the strive for rebelling, unburdened, helping. But he isn’t prim proper, or a complete empty shell who is flat/static who is Mr. Perfect that saves the day. There’s layers to it all, and it’s a journey getting to where he is. That in spite of his difficult circumstance, he thrives. With friends, supporting himself financially, helping others not just because it’s right but because he knows better than anyone what it means to be helpless. He’s sarcastic, cheeky, quiet, doesn’t always like to follow the rules (like when Sojiro tells him to keep his head down, turn a blind eye, not cause trouble) and it would actually make sense that he isn’t a big fan of hierarchies and the system of society (the cons and darker aspects), especially when abuse, power play, gaslighting, etc are involved. Definitely not the type who does duty and follows the structure he’s surrounded by.

When the game FINALLY reveals what her deal is, I’ve already clocked out, exited, lost interest in her reused backstory that the element of surprise failed. To have to go through the main plot (the important part) of the entire game, we had to reach the end with Third Semester to get her reason for being meaningful, to the end, just leaves everything dry. We could’ve gotten to know more about how Maruki’s powers work and what other patients he might have affected. Because is it really believable that he only inflicted Yoshizawa throughout the time he had gotten his Persona? Wouldn’t he get more Shujin patients outside the main crew? Maybe not Shujin?

Isn’t it part of her wish that she wanted to become Kasumi so much that she found an opportunity to do so deep down? To fill her sister’s dream for her feels kinda off and complicated regarding her cognition is only that of how she sees herself versus how others see her. All this seems to reveal just how obsessed Sumire is about Kasumi. And her relationship with her sister doesn’t show except for the one clip where real Kasumi appears. We can only go off of what Sumire says. For example: Valentine’s Day, White Day, real ending, she goes back to her default Kasumi self. I’ve never seen a character have such a slow burn-to-rushed progress to then digress it all.

Like, isn’t it the fact that she became Kasumi and made herself be the one that died just a cycle of what happened but reverse?? If Sumire is the supposed dead one then that means as Kasumi she didn’t blame herself because she’s happy as her sister and the grief she showed throughout the most part of her social link was fake. She got what she wanted so she didn’t feel guilty or saddened about the death? What the hell? She just puts herself back where she started, how did that dodge anything?! And it’s not even because of Maruki! She’s doing this with full awareness and freely choosing to do so. Absolute ridiculousness.

She’s in loves with Joker no matter what you do. It’s like she doesn’t know what platonic relationships are. It’s like spending time with a guy has to mean romance. Then again, any person but Joker doesn’t exist to her. And who did you love him as exactly, Sumire? Kasumi or you? Because Joker has only ever known Kasumi. To him he’s only just met you. It makes me appreciate Aigis, Rise, and Marie more because they were nothing compared to the level of shoehorning Yoshizawa brings. She’s basically passing her obsession with Kasumi to Joker instead. Though this time with a sort of idealistic infatuation and expectations, but much less extreme to how she is with her twin. For crying out loud Sumire barely hits the peak of actual maturity. She just turned fifteen a month before the actual game starts, a first year who is still growing out of her kid phase. Top that with her fragile mental struggles that she has hardly had time to heal from, her goals which are the only thing she cares about, how was it appropriate to date her? So what if Joker is at least a year older, she doesn’t have full understanding in what it means to be in a romantic relationship with someone, serious and committed with her mentality; much less ready for it. At least Marie interacts with everyone and has that become a factor in her growth.

KaSumi/re seems to have the habit of being an overbearing airhead. Everything flies passed her unless it’s about herself. Makes sense for the 10% amount of times she shows up in the game. Because she’s busy with competitions? So is everyone else, but they make the goddamn time to actually BE important and involved, we can only take her word off it and she’d just be gone for a period of time.

Whether it’s Kasumi or Sumire, they’re stalkers regardless. Her following the thieves into Sae’s Palace because she “felt something big was going to happen” is such a poor excuse. What, does everything Joker does have to apply to you? Just how long did you wait in the Palace? Because you were worried about him and followed even though he’s always respected your boundaries and doesn’t step out of line on your privacy? Did you have anything to eat? Creep. Her stalking the team in the nurse’s office out of no where was weird. How long have you been tailing them, huh? How did you conveniently find out about their meeting? Lavenza’s butterfly form was only a sight Joker picked up on while she was invisible to everyone else. Morgana can’t count because he was created by Igor, so of course he could see her. And Lavenza stays in the nurse’s office while Joker gathers everyone to meet. It’s like the same situation for the other Velvet Room Attendants, they can have this sort of invisibility projected in the outside world where bystanders can’t see them except their guests or be visible and interact with people. Especially the locations of the Velvet Room, where only the guests can see the entrance and the attendant. The thieves or any of the teams can’t see the glowing blue door or them either in the other world like Tartarus and the Metaverse. They only think that the leaders are zoning out in reality. So the idea that she knew to follow Joker because she saw Lavenza is confusing.

Why does her being skinny while eating a lot matter so much to everyone that it has to be brought up all the time? She’s an athlete, we get it. It’s part of her ‘honour student status’. Ryuji is no different! He’s an athlete for track for track and field! This trope is used so much for every time she eats something. Past Persona games didn’t do this and be so absorbed in a side character’s trait.

All Kasumi cares about in this big wide world is gymnastics and nothing else. Sumire’s goal is not too different either. Yet her growth for betterment feels too short for someone who had an identity crisis for almost a year. Was she completely conscious for her cognition? Was acting as Kasumi a recollection as she adjusted back to being herself? Did she forget who she was deep down until the reveal? Did loss hit differently over what she feels between herself and Kasumi? It makes me curious over the fuctions of Maruki’s powers, not enough answers.

KaSumi/re has hardly any stakes as a phantom thief. She doesn’t even have a reason to join their cause! She just joins as a kind gesture and because of Maruki. She didn’t even agree with them that time she met up with Joker and Akechi. It makes sense that she’d be there for Maruki but is a temporary member until they defeat him.

How she got the MetaNav makes no goddamn sense. Because Yaldaboath is the one who gave Joker and Akechi access, and others (such as the Thieves) being in close proximity to either of them would cause them to get the app as well. But KaSumi/re can break that rule? It goes against the very functions the game has made. Like seriously?

Vanadis may be more original and suited to her compared to Cendrillon from what I’ve heard, but it’s amazing how even deep down as Sumire, she still copies from Joker instead of actually being individualistic. Especially for an Ultimate Persona. Like, seriously, black and red colour palette? Bird wings hanging from the lower back? Sounds way too familiar to another Persona we know well. Vanadis is supposed to be a goddess, why the hell does she look like a demon? It says a lot about her either as Kasumi or Sumire. You try so hard, Atlus. You really do. It honestly surprised me to see these shoehorns.

When she said that only the person has to be the one to change their situation, she is literally undermining what happened with the cases of Kamoshida, Madarame, Kaneshiro, Shiro. Their victims were people who couldn’t stand up to them because they were powerless with hardly much choice. Joker, Shiho, Mishima, Ann, Yusuke, etc. There’s nothing wrong with help and inspiration. Sumire gets that herself technically, and that’s fine, but that just makes her a hypocrite. But I guess I’m taking her words as being that change has to be done alone so that might be on me.

Joker, Violet, and Crow are a bizarre team. Her and Crow don’t even have anything in common for their dynamic. Of course Joker and Akechi would know what’s going on, but for Kasumi it just feels different for me. She’s just there for curiosity. Everyone has been affected by Maruki, and she has the longest, so it doesn’t feel right for her to be there.

Thank gods she isn’t in Strikers, all she’d be was an out of place extra. She’s not even mentioned in Strikers, her only appearance in the Persona universe is literally just Royal. Unlike Marie who has made multiple appearances. And as I’ve phrased before, she has no motive to even be one of them. Royal’s true ending proves that when she isn’t in the van with the thieves. Her only concern was Maruki. Her life is back in order and she’s thriving for herself. And that’s fine, I don’t really have a problem with that. It just makes me wonder how much of an afterthought Atlus made her after Royal was finished. Whether or not she’d be in the game wouldn’t have made a difference for the whole plot but her own story. Atlus just seems to fail in fulfilling that entirely.

Out of all the three new additions I felt like Jose had the least amount of time and attention. And for me, personally, I would’ve liked to see more of him and his story, you know? Because he’s so mysterious and gives off similar vibes to the Velvet Room Attendants but we don’t get to know more about his origins. In Royal he’s just there to provide. It’s only a theory that he’s associated with Philemon like the attendants are with Igor but there’s not a whole lot of evidence to link that connection; since Philemon hasn’t made a real appearance in years. It’s a shame we don’t get more Persona 1 and 2 or a new remake or something. But with the age gap in the Persona timeline it’s understandable.

Part of me was disappointed that Persona 5 vanilla wasn’t coming to Switch so that I could avoid the pain of dealing with Yoshizawa for certain moments. But not entirely. At least there’s 3 and 4 to look forward to.

But hey, if you can make reasonable opinions over this then I’ll respect that, and maybe my thoughts of her will be persuaded. Unless you want to be an asshole about free will of opinions and open mindedness then please leave this post now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It’s not like this post is a matter of life or death that demands bitchy responses. I draw the line on hate over just having an honest opinion different from others. Especially with any fans of any fanbase, that take things unnecessarily too far. Your love for this character doesn’t give you the right to attack me when I’m only pointing out what I’ve noticed about her and how my personal perspective is affected by those points. And as I’ve stated, I am open to seeing her in a different light, given reasonable and understandable viewpoints without the hostility.

I may continue making these points further. I just had to get this off my chest, even if her fans blast me for my personal opinions that have obvious pointers. If you don’t like it, then you don’t have to see it without replying with hateful words and rude comments towards me and my post.

[byneddiedingo]

Chishu Ryu and Haruhiko Tsuda in There Was a Father (Yasujiro Ozu, 1942) Cast: Chishu Ryu, Shuji Sano, Haruhiko Tsuda, Shin Saburi, Takeshi Sakamoto, Mitsuko Mito, Masayoshi Otsuka, Shin'ichi Himori. Screenplay: Tadao Ikeda, Yasujiro Ozu, Takao Yanai. Cinematography: Yuharu Atsuta. Art direction: Tatsuo Hamada. Film editing: Yoshiyasu Hamamura. Music: Kyoichi Saiki. With its low-angle long takes and shots of buildings and landscapes bridging scenes, There Was a Father is unmistakably a film by Yasujiro Ozu. What doesn't seem characteristic of Ozu is the didactic, moralizing tone, the persistent stress on duty, on hard work, on self-sacrifice. You don't need to check the release date for the film to realize that this was Ozu's contribution to the war effort in the form of home front propaganda, very much in the manner of Akira Kurosawa's The Most Beautiful (1944) and Keisuke Kinoshita's The Living Magaroku (1943), designed to encourage greater wartime productivity. What sets Ozu's film apart from those two slightly later films is the relative absence of actual reference to the war, except for the grownup Ryohei's passing his draft physical and the remarkable moment when Shuhei encourages his son to bow at the shrine to his dead mother and give her the news. Ozu gives us a Japan in which life goes on, not one in which consciousness of the enemy dominates every waking moment. It's a film without much of a plot, in which the dramatic tension stems from the always postponed hope of father and son that they will one day live together. The main thing that keeps There Was a Father from becoming mawkish is the beautifully controlled performance by Chishu Ryu, Ozu's favorite actor, who had the great ability to play characters of almost any age. In Early Summer (1951), for example, he plays Setsuko Hara's brother, while in Tokyo Story (1953) he plays her elderly father-in-law. In There Was a Father we first see him as the dark-haired, stubble-bearded widower, raising the young Ryohei; by the end of the film Ryohei is grown and Shuhei is gray-haired and ill, but he's vividly convincing in both appearances. He also makes the determinedly self-sacrificing Shuhei convincing, when he gives up his teaching job because he feels responsible for the accidental death of one of his students, and even his moralizing speeches bear the weight of conviction. There Was a Father is the work of a great director forced to compromise by a totalitarian regime and managing to remain as true to his art as circumstances will allow.

[limerancy-fics]

i just wanna say i ABSOLUTELY ADORE waidty, i've gone back and re read probably all the chapters about 4 times, it's extremely well written. i love slowburn as a genre because the author really has to get into why the main pair like actually like each other, and this is the SLOWEST BURN AND I LOVE IT :D. It fleshes out basically every hiccup or potential problem in the relationship without feeling repetitive, and the fact the plot uses side character with their own problems (I REALLY like how you characterised Aether) makes it seem less like xiaoven are the only ones with problems and the universe just kinda hates them I love how you looked at the canon characters, read between and lines, and used every last drop of potential character depth (ESPECIALLY venti, waidty venti makes me concerned about canon venti's wellbeing and how much shit he's probably masking). Spicy elements in fics is something i usually skip over just cause they're very not my thing, but waidty is an exception cause the spicy stuff actually CONTRIBUTES towards character development, which is very appreciated.

omg tyyyyyyyyy 🥺🥺🥺🥺 in really hoping to get back into writing (just....anything at all at this point OTL) but im also hoping there’s enough of waidty to keep people satisfied until i can update again!

YES slowburn rlly is like that for me of just....okay but why do they like each other??? it’s something i feel can be missing in some fics of yeah....they’re attracted to each other but do they actually like each other? can they spend time together? can they enjoy each other's company? and with slowburn you really...can’t avoid those questions. if they don’t actually like each other and won’t actually work in a relationship, the slowburn just falls apart. im also!! very glad!! that it doesn’t seem repetitive!! ive worried before that it just feels like going in circles but im also the one writing it so :’)

and yeah like....side characters are still people, so to have really blank side characters who don’t have lives going on outside the main story or their own story just....doesn’t work for me. aether is also like...really difficult to characterize bc he...doesn’t have much of a canon personality? and in the small moments can seem a little inconsistent? or maybe i just don’t like the options sometimes aknfskjdf

ive REALLY analyzed xiaoven to hell and back and come to some fun and interesting conclusions. and if you’re worried about venti now, you better get ready bc u aint seen nothin yet !! venti angst arc incoming!!

i ALSO kinda feel meh about spicy unless it feels like it has a place or contributes something. if im reading a fic just for spicy, thats a different story but a fic where i’m ready for story and character? empty, meaningless spicy just...doesn’t do it for me

[pop-punklouis]

ok it’s rant time !! there are SO many things which are just so ?????

1. what was the point of eleven and nina ? like why did it have to be stretched out. they could’ve been done with it in like 4-5 eps max

2. everyone was so separated…. like it’s similar to the previous seasons where there are like 3-4 different storyline’s converging to form the bigger picture but this season was just so messy…. eleven had a completely different storyline, will + mike + jonathan had a sub plot within elevens plot and so irrelevant at that ???? (like hello will deserves sm better) then what was even going on w hopper + joyce ???? like they were doing a completely different show and had a cameo appearance on stranger things in the last 5 min of vol. 2….. OH AND elevens reaction to seeing hopper ALIVE AND IN FRONT OF HER AFTER MONTHSSS??? not it. like where is the drama, the emotion, the “i can’t believe you’re here and real and alive” it was like she was Expecting to see him. no shock. no surprise. no questions. even joyce for that matter but it was still better. and why was there so much focus on jason and the dudes? eddie and argyle deserved that focus tbh. i couldn’t connect with either of them. (eddie seems overhyped to me because you don’t really see much of him, other than being the nerd who witnessed the first death) the main characters were literally steve + robin + nancy (derogatory) + max (+ lucas + dustin and maybe eddie)

3. speaking of main characters, whatever happened to the og gang ?????? the 4 guys and eleven and max????? i miss all my children being together and doing this shit together!!! this was just so not it. also, where did the fun go???? s1-2 (and 3) were just FUN. there was good humour AND logic. the kids were just so adorable and likeable (except mike but yes)

4. they tried SO HARD to make new audience favourite characters in eddie and argyle but these 2 were just so so so so so so so so pointless and useless like ughhhhhh (eddie also died for NOTHING, like he literally just wanted to be the hErO) it was just stupid af. they also tried making eddie and dustins dynamic like steve and dustins ???? the never change exchange between the two of them?? so random tbh. idk whatever it was,,,, looked very very forced fit.

5. so many characters were just THERE it was so annoying like helloooo people, add to the plot !!!!!! the stupidest plot ever but pls contribute !!!!!!!!!!!!

6. when it was revealed that henry is vecna and vecna is one and one is the dude w eleven, i was just like woah ,,,,,,,, disappointing. marks for the effort but disappointing nonetheless. also this could’ve been such a good ending for the entire show??? that it’s been vecna all along but no vecna is somehow still fucking alive

7. why tf did eleven need mike to tell her he loves her for her to gain her powers? why did mike lose ALL personality once he got together with her? like his personality was annoying but he at least had some personality.

8. lucas my man is so under appreciated. dustin and mike were so mean to him actually in the beginning w the campaign and basketball thing. lucas deserves better friends.

9. vol 2 felt like a never ending epilogue tbh. it could’ve literally been done in like a 1hr episode max but no. they could’ve really ended the season at vol 1 finale.

10. jonathan is bleh but this season he’s BLEH. erica was annoying this time ngl.

11. oh yeah, what the fuck happened to owens?

hi hello grey! finally getting around to reading this x

1) i liked getting backstory on eleven’s origin and i do think nina could’ve had one (maybe two) episodes that dug into that, but they really did drag it on and on for a plot twist that had little pay off imo also i’m tired of not knowing what powers eleven can do anymore. it’s like they add new elements every season but never explain them— and she just instinctively knows? how to do them?

2) i don’t have a real issue with everyone being separated as long as it makes sense in the end and they all come back together per seasons past during the climax, but yeah it just seems like they have bloated the cast unnecessarily and given so many different subplots that either are incredibly boring/irrelevant or are completely left behind without an explanation. and yeah hopper and eleven’s reunion was so disappointing. i felt more for dustin and eddie’s uncles dialogue than hopper and el’s and eddie is a new character lmao the last 30 minutes of ep 9 felt super rushed and clunky overall tbh.

3) i think one of the worst decisions they made was to separate the entire group of kids this season. i know they wanted to expand on eleven’s backstory etc. but they threw the rest of the hawkins kids with four of the teens to try and repair that absence but it wasn’t the same at all. it felt like a corny scooby doo episode every time that group was exploring together lmao and having will and jonathan almost completely absent was such a bizarre choice. and yeah i miss max + eleven’s friendship. it was really special, and it was just ripped away like. after el left it was like the writers forgot her and max were close lmao

4) i like eddie’s character tbh, but i do think they pushed him to the forefronts of the group too quickly which didn’t make it feel organic. i don’t have anything against argyle either, but the entire california storyline didn’t need to happen at all, and it would’ve still been the same season so yeah just wasted content tbh

6) i just want to know why it was so easy to “defeat” vecna with fire and shotgun bullets like i know he was vulnerable during that time, but it was so underwhelming. the climax of episode 9 was SO underwhelming. legitimately no one but eleven really did much besides fuck around in the upside down and almost die

7) it’s the way eleven’s entire story arc this season was that she has the power within herself and doesn’t need validation or security from outside sources to tap into her strength and purpose and to water her down to like an accessory of mikes 🤢 where she can’t do anything without his love or approval 🤢 is insanity to me and gives off the worst message.

8) lucas deserves a better storyline altogether??? like they basically ignored the opportunity to flesh out his character for three seasons only to do it very uncomfortably in S4 he deserves so much more than what they gave him

9) no forreal vol 2 was def just a money grab to keep the excitement and engagement alive for netflix and the series, as a whole, since i was surprised myself to see so much attention back on the show after being gone since 2019 there was no reason why we needed OVER 60 minute episodes for vol. 2 especially when it was drug the way it did (like ep 9? i found myself on my phone scrolling through social media so often for the TWO AND A HALF HOUR RUNTIME)

10) i always love erica but yeah jonathan has always been bleh and he literally built his entire relationship with nancy off being a creep and taking photos of her without her permission on someone else’s property (all while treating her like shit nonetheless) yet they really gave this man maybe 45 minutes of screen time the entire season and it was unbearably noticeable

11) stranger things! where everything is made up and the points don’t matter ✨

[duckprintspress]

How to Edit an Over-Length Story Down to a Specific Word Count

One of the most wonderful things about writing as a hobby is that you never have to worry about the length of your story. You can be as self-indulgent as you want, make your prose the royalist of purples, include every single side story and extra thought that strikes your fancy. It’s your story, with no limits, and you can proceed with it as you wish.

When transitioning from casual writing to a more professional writing milieu, this changes. If you want to publish, odds are, you’ll need to write to a word count. If a flash fiction serial says, “1,000 words or less,” your story can’t be 1,025 and still qualify. If a website says, “we accept novellas ranging from 20,000 to 40,000 words,” your story will need to fall into that window. Even when you consider novel-length works, stories are expected to be a certain word count to fit neatly into specific genres - romance is usually around 80,000 words, young adult usually 50,000 to 80,000, debut novels usually have to be 100,000 words or less regardless of genre, etc. If you self-publish or work with a small press, you may be able to get away with breaking these “rules,” but it’s still worthwhile to learn to read your own writing critically with length in mind and learn to recognize what you do and do not need to make your story work - and then, if length isn’t an issue in your publishing setting, you can always decide after figuring out what’s non-essential to just keep everything anyway.

If you’re writing for fun? You literally never have to worry about your word count (well, except for sometimes in specific challenges that have minimum and/or maximum word counts), and as such, this post is probably not for you.

But, if you’re used to writing in the “throw in everything and the kitchen sink” way that’s common in fandom fanfiction circles, and you’re trying to transition only to be suddenly confronted with the reality that you’ve written 6,000 words for a short story project with a maximum word count of 5,000...well, we at Duck Prints Press have been there, we are in fact there right now, as we finish our stories for our upcoming anthology Add Magic to Taste and many of us wrote first drafts that were well over the maximum word count.

So, based on our experiences, here are our suggestions on approaches to help your story shorter...without losing the story you wanted to tell!

Cut weasel words (we wrote a whole post to help you learn how to do that!) such as unnecessary adverbs and adjectives, the “was ~ing” sentence structure, redundant time words such as “a moment later,” and many others.

When reviewing dialog, keep an eye out for “uh,” “er,” “I mean,” “well,” and other casual extra words. A small amount of that kind of language usage can make dialog more realistic, but a little goes a long way, and often a fair number of words can be removed by cutting these words, without negatively impacting your story at all.

Active voice almost always uses fewer words than passive voice, so try to use active voice more (but don’t forget that passive voice is important for varying up your sentence structures and keeping your story interesting, so don’t only write in active voice!).

Look for places where you can replace phrases with single words that mean the same thing. You can often save a lot of words by switching out phrases like “come back” for “return” and seeking out other places where one word can do the work of many.

Cut sentences that add atmosphere but don't forward the plot or grow your characters. (Obviously, use your judgement. Don't cut ALL the flavor, but start by going - I’ve got two sentences that are mostly flavor text - which adds more? And then delete the other, or combine them into one shorter sentence.)

Remove superfluous dialog tags. If it’s clear who’s talking, especially if it’s a conversation between only two people, you can cut all the he saids, she saids.

Look for places where you've written repetitively - at the most basic level, “ ‘hahaha,’ he laughed,” is an example, but repetition is often more subtle, like instances where you give information in once sentence, and then rephrase part or all of that sentence in the next one - it’s better to poke at the two sentences until you think of an effective, and more concise, way to make them into only one sentence. This also goes for scenes - if you’ve got two scenes that tend towards accomplishing the same plot-related goal, consider combining them into one scene.

Have a reason for every sentence, and even every sentence clause (as in, every comma insertion, every part of the sentence, every em dashed inclusion, that kind of thing). Ask yourself - what function does this serve? Have I met that function somewhere else? If it serves no function, or if it’s duplicative, consider cutting it. Or, the answer may be “none,” and you may choose to save it anyway - because it adds flavor, or is very in character for your PoV person, or any of a number of reasons. But if you’re saving it, make sure you’ve done so intentionally. It's important to be aware of what you're trying to do with your words, or else how can you recognize what to cut, and what not to cut?

Likewise, have a reason for every scene. They should all move the story along - whatever the story is, it doesn’t have to be “the end of the world,” your story can be simple and straightforward and sequential...but if you’re working to a word count, your scenes should still forward the story toward that end point. If the scene doesn’t contribute...you may not need them, or you may be able to fold it in with another scene, as suggested in item 6.

Review the worldbuilding you’ve included, and consider what you’re trying to accomplish with your story. A bit of worldbuilding outside of the bare essentials makes a story feel fleshed out, but again, a little can go a long way. If you’ve got lots of “fun” worldbuilding bits that don’t actually forward your plot and aren’t relevant to your characters, cut them. You can always put them as extras in your blog later, but they’ll just make your story clunky if you have a lot of them.

Beware of info-dumps. Often finding a more natural way to integrate that information - showing instead of telling in bits throughout the story - can help reduce word count.

Alternatively - if you over-show, and never tell, this will vastly increase your word count, so consider if there are any places in your story where you can gloss over the details in favor of a shorter more “tell-y” description. You don’t need to go into a minute description of every smile and laugh - sometimes it’s fine to just say, “she was happy” or “she frowned” without going into a long description of their reaction that makes the reader infer that they were happy. (Anyone who unconditionally says “show, don’t tell,” is giving you bad writing advice. It’s much more important to learn to recognize when showing is more appropriate, and when telling is more appropriate, because no story will function as a cohesive whole if it’s all one or all the other.)

If you’ve got long paragraphs, they’re often prime places to look for entire sentences to cut. Read them critically and consider what’s actually helping your story instead of just adding word count chonk.

Try reading some or all of the dialog out loud; if it gets boring, repetitive, or unnecessary, end your scene wherever you start to lose interest, and cut the dialog that came after. If necessary, add a sentence or two of description at the end to make sure the transition is abrupt, but honestly, you often won’t even need to do so - scenes that end at the final punchy point in a discussion often work very well.

Create a specific goal for a scene or chapter. Maybe it’s revealing a specific piece of information, or having a character discover a specific thing, or having a specific unexpected event occur, but, whatever it is, make sure you can say, “this scene/chapter is supposed to accomplish this.” Once you know what you’re trying to do, check if the scene met that goal, make any necessary changes to ensure it does, and cut things that don’t help the scene meet that goal.

Building on the previous one, you can do the same thing, but for your entire story. Starting from the beginning, re-outline the story scene-by-scene and/or chapter-by-chapter, picking out what the main “beats” and most important themes are, and then re-read your draft and make sure you’re hitting those clearly. Consider cutting out the pieces of your story that don’t contribute to those, and definitely cut the pieces that distract from those key moments (unless, of course, the distraction is the point.)

Re-read a section you think could be cut and see if any sentences snag your attention. Poke at that bit until you figure out why - often, it’s because the sentence is unnecessary, poorly worded, unclear, or otherwise superfluous. You can often rewrite the sentence to be clearer, or cut the sentence completely without negatively impacting your work.

Be prepared to cut your darlings; even if you love a sentence or dialog exchange or paragraph, if you are working to a strict word count and it doesn't add anything, it may have to go, and that's okay...even though yes, it will hurt, always, no matter how experienced a writer you are. (Tip? Save your original draft, and/or make a new word doc where you safely tuck your darlings in for the future. Second tip? If you really, really love it...find a way to save it, but understand that to do so, you’ll have to cut something else. It’s often wise to pick one or two favorites and sacrifice the rest to save the best ones. We are not saying “always cut your darlings.” That is terrible writing advice. Don’t always cut your darlings. Writing, and reading your own writing, should bring you joy, even when you’re doing it professionally.)

If you’re having trouble recognizing what in your own work CAN be cut, try implementing the above strategies in different places - cut things, and then re-read, and see how it works, and if it works at all. Sometimes, you’ll realize...you didn’t need any of what you cut. Other times, you’ll realize...it no longer feels like the story you were trying to tell. Fiddle with it until you figure out what you need for it to still feel like your story, and practice that kind of cutting until you get better at recognizing what can and can’t go without having to do as much tweaking.

Lastly...along the lines of the previous...understand that sometimes, cutting your story down to a certain word count will just be impossible. Some stories simply can’t be made very short, and others simply can’t be told at length. If you’re really struggling, it’s important to consider that your story just...isn’t going to work at that word count. And that’s okay. Go back to the drawing board, and try again - you’ll also get better at learning what stories you can tell, in your style, using your own writing voice, at different word counts. It’s not something you’ll just know how to do - that kind of estimating is a skill, just like all other writing abilities.

As with all our writing advice - there’s no one way to tackle cutting stories for length, and also, which of these strategies is most appropriate will depend on what kind of story you’re writing, how much over-length it is, what your target market is, your characters, and your personal writing style. Try different ones, and see which work for you - the most important aspect is to learn to read your own writing critically enough that you are able to recognize what you can cut, and then from that standpoint, use your expertise to decide what you should cut, which is definitely not always the same thing. Lots of details can be cut - but a story with all of the flavor and individuality removed should never be your goal.

Contributions to this post were made by @unforth, @jhoomwrites, @alecjmarsh, @shealynn88, @foxymoley, @willablythe, and @owlishintergalactic, and their input has been used with their knowledge and explicit permission. Thanks, everyone, for helping us consider different ways to shorten stories!

[serpent-of-the-silver-plumes]

would you mind talking more about bart and unreliable narration? I always hear people say unreliable narration but I've never seen any concrete examples from media I actually consume so I'd love your thoughts

Oh absolutely!! I actually wrote a thing about this a while back but then went 'this is not well written' and it got buried in my drafts, so I’m glad to have an excuse to pull that up and rewrite it. (Also sorry, this got really long.)

Basically, at one point I was listening to a podcast (Be the Serpent, ep 4), and they categorize different kinds of unreliable narrators into three types: the narrator who knows they are lying to you, the narrator who is lying to themself (and therefore you), and the narrator who is lying because they are missing some key information. I would argue that the three main pov characters of the Bartimaeus Trilogy each represent a different type of these unreliable narrators.

Going in backwards order, Kitty is the narrator who lies because she is missing some key information, at least until the third book. As a commoner, even one who is part of a resistance movement, her knowledge of magic is extremely limited and biased. Were we to go off of her point of view alone, we would get an inaccurate view of this world and the power dynamics that exist within it: that magicians are somehow special in holding magic and that they have evil demons who work alongside them in shared mischief/hunger for power/whatever.

However, because the books include other points of view, the full impact of that unreliability is not realized.

Similarly, Nathaniel lies to himself, especially in the later books. He ignores how much he personally contributes to upholding a system that depends on the oppression and slavery of other sentient beings, and squashes down the last traces of his moral compass. I don’t think he ever really questions the system of government or if it should be there and work the way it does.

To some extent, we do see through his unreliability as well, because Bartimaeus is around to keep a check on him and tell the reader that no, the magicians and their imperialism are bad, that spirits have very good reason to hate humans, and give us other world building details that contradict what Nathaniel believes.

But some of it is about what is going on inside Nathaniel’s own head, so there is also a lot that can’t be fully seen by an outside perspective that has to be assumed by the reader. Like he will deny the sentimental feelings he has towards Ms. Underwood and the guilt he had over Kitty’s supposed death and the fact that he even remotely cares about Bartimaeus, but actions speak louder than words.

Because both of these characters’ unreliability stem from a lack of understanding, having other perspectives in the book in some ways cancels out their unreliability, and actually ties their unreliability more to their character development than as a plot/narration device. Kitty grows more reliable throughout the series while Nathaniel gets less so until the end. This doesn’t make that unreliability useless though, especially in a series aimed for children. By getting each character’s point of view, we can see where they are coming from and how the knowledge and views they have affect the way they act, but there is also someone else to point out how they are wrong, to make you question how true what each individual says is.

Bartimaeus is entirely different from the first two characters. His narration is told in first person, unlike Nathaniel and Kitty’s third person. He talks directly to the reader and goes off on tangential footnotes that are not necessarily part of the events currently happening in the story. Because of this narration style, he also has the power to lie more directly to the reader than any of the other characters.

Given his life, it is understandable how he has gotten into the habit of lying. Every moment of his existence on Earth is spent under the power of someone else, so he lies in order to protect himself. There are some instances where he lies to his masters in order to escape punishment or to lead them into danger so he can be set free, but he also lies about his feelings because he cannot afford to be emotionally vulnerable.

For the most part, I think it can be assumed that the dialogue and most actions that happen in his pov chapters are told as they are, since much of that lines up with what goes on in the other characters’ perspectives, and also there are at least a few things that show him in a less-than-flattering light that he would probably leave out or change if he could. Instead, the lies he tells are largely about his past and his emotions, often done through exaggeration or omission, and cannot be collaborated by others.

When lying about his past, Bartimaeus frequently exaggerates his prestige and role in history. In Ptolemy’s Gate, Bartimaeus says that he talked to King Solomon about Faquarl’s tendency to brag about his historical importance. Even beyond the obvious irony, in the prequel we see Bartimaeus’s time at Solomon’s court, and while it isn’t technically impossible for him to have talked to Solomon about Faquarl, the timing and circumstances make it extremely unlikely. Although his other stories cannot be proven or disproven with what we know, this instance and his general tendency to brag outrageously makes it very likely that Bartimaeus at the very least embellishes.

However, despite being super showy about his past, Bartimaeus doesn’t actually include much important information. He very rarely talks about his great feats as a thief or assassin or anything else. When he lists his accomplishments, he describes building walls and talking to important historical figures. There’s a post somewhere (if I find it, I’ll link it) that explains this as being a way for Bartimaeus to try to take control of his reputation and therefore his life; by associating with safer jobs, he is less likely to be summoned for very dangerous and morally reprehensible jobs.

He does generally try to portray himself as clever and collected and just generally more cool than he actually is. There’s a moment at the end of the first book where he describes himself as trying to calm Nathaniel who is freaking out, and then the next chapter is from Nathaniel’s pov which describes him as being the calmer one while Bartimaeus is a fly anxiously buzzing around.

I don’t remember the exact line, but in the second book there’s an exchange that goes something like this:

“____” I said calmly.

“Stop your whimpering,” Kitty said.

The way Bartimaeus portrays himself is straight up contradicted by the more factual account of the words and actions of someone else. And presumably there are plenty of other times that we do not see contradictory evidence where Bartimaeus straight up lies about how he is reacting to something.

But one of Bartimaeus’s most unreliable points centers around humans. Throughout the books, he constantly talks about the ways he has killed and would like to kill his masters, if given the opportunity. Nathaniel is an exception, one that Bartimaeus does admit to the reader, but even in the third book when he talks the most about how he would kill Nathaniel or even join a demon rebellion if Faquarl offered right then and there, Bartimaeus does not actually follow through on these threats when he gets the chance. Despite all of his talk about how much he hates humans, Bartimaeus has as much of a positive relationship he can have with as many humans possible, given the circumstances.

A lot of his unreliability centers around Ptolemy, which is what some of Bartimaeus’s biggest lies of omission are about. In the first book, we do get the sense that Bartimaeus has a soft spot for at least some humans. His excuses of saving and looking after Nathaniel in order to avoid Indefinite Confinement, while likely not entirely false, do fall a bit flat. We even get a mention of “a boy I had known once before, someone I had loved.” Although this is not explicitly connected to Ptolemy at this point, mentions of brown skin and the Nile make a pretty obvious connection to Ptolemy, especially as Bartimaeus describes taking on Ptolemy’s form several times later on. There is a less obvious hint too, “I sat on the ground, cross-legged, the way Ptolemy used to do.” Even without knowing much about what kind of relationship Bartimaeus had with Ptolemy, that kind of detail shows ‘a devotion to detail that could only come with genuine affection, or perhaps even love.’

It isn’t until the third book until we learn anything substantial about his relationship with Ptolemy, and even then he doesn’t tell the whole story. The fandom jokes about how Bartimaeus just casually mentions in a foot note that he prefers a lioness form because the manes are annoying, and it’s not until the flashback that you find out that the mane is part of what got Ptolemy killed. And even with the flashbacks, you still never see the time that Ptolemy visited the Other Place.

There are a lot of posts on this site that talk about how Bartimaeus absolutely was idealizing Ptolemy, and how there’s some evidence that he isn’t the perfectly sweet never-did-anything-wrong innocent child that Bartimaeus describes him as (notably that part where he was vaguely annoyed that people kept coming to him to ask for help and interrupted his research). Not that Ptolemy secretly sucks or anything, but it’s really easy to let nostalgia skip over the less dramatic details of Ptolemy being an actual human being with flaws.

In summary, I would argue that all of the trilogy protagonists are unreliable narrators to varying extents, and Jonathan Stroud is a genius for how he manages to make it all work.

[robotlesbianjavert]

MVA is a Matryoshka Doll of Character Development & Framing: Yes This is About How the Anime Failed. Whatever.

Breaking it down, the My Villain Academia arc serves two (2) main purposes in the overall narrative.

→ Put the League of Villains back in a position where they can be a credible threat to the heroes after losing All for One and their potential partnership with Overhaul falling through. Obviously accomplished by upgrading Shigaraki / Twice / Toga, giving Shigaraki the Meta Liberation Army, Ujiko’s assistance, Gigantomachia’s loyalty, etc. 

Of course the anime undercuts all of this by letting the heroes know what the League is planning before the League can take advantage of their new position (ergo narratively giving heroes the advantage, as seen in the manga’s war arc) before we even get to see HOW they got all these cool new toys. So why bother. That’s a different sin that the anime has committed, we can put this on the backburner.

→ Pseudo-reboot the direction of the story so that villains are characters on equal standing with the heroes, rather than being obstacles to beat up. This involves a lot more factors, but it’s all rooted in how the arc and characters are framed, and how the characters are developed.

I talked a bit about my concern about the sympathetic framing of the League in MVA way back when we first learned about the anime arcs being shuffle here (my triumph of objectivity). The gist of it is that the arc switch undermines the way the League are portrayed as underdogs—broke, aimless, and relatively weak compared to the heroes and the army coming for their heads—and I was right! Worse, they didn’t just undermine that underdog framing, they straight up didn’t bother. There is zero context for the League’s situation post-Overhaul, pre-Gigantomachia. No explanation for how they have to rob other villain groups to get by, that their equipment is breaking down, that they have no solid end goal or means to achieve anything of note. Just a challenge from Ujiko and Gigantomachia that loses a lot of pressure without understanding the sorry situation the League is in.

Tellingly, they don’t even let the League kill the fantasy racists. Who doesn’t want to see the fantasy racists get murdered! Outside of the existence of the CRC being an interesting bit of worldbuilding that confirmed the existence of heteromorphic discrimination, which is likely to continue playing a role in the manga, it’s an easy way to let the villains be villains while allowing the readers to go with the flow into this villain-focused arc, without having to be outraged by their actions.

From the get go, we’ve lost the framing that made MVA an arc worth paying attention to when it was first released, which indicates a) that the anime doesn’t care about the actual purpose of this arc outside of setting up a flashy hero vs. villain fight for season six and b) that we shouldn’t expect much from the rest of the anime arc. Even if they get the technical aspects of it right, we’ve already lost the weight of the narrative.

MVA is also obviously known as being the big push to develop the villains as characters. We’ve gotten some character development for them before (Twice and Toga’s adventures with Overhaul, Shigaraki’s consistent growth from “brat” to a capable villain and leader in his own right), but MVA is the first arc solely dedicated to their stories and humanization. However, there are “tiers” of character development and focus here, nested within each other, that are tied into the arc’s narrative structure.

Getting them out of the way: Dabi and Compress didn’t get to do much, though we do get to see their relationships with the League in action, plus stuff like Dabi’s quirk limits which come up later. Otherwise, their actual storylines only come into fruition or start with the PLF Raid arc (which in itself is dependent on MVA but that’s another argument). 

More memorable and meaty is the development for Toga and Twice. We learn more about their backstories, we get to see them push themselves to the breaking point for the sake of survival, Toga gets to evolve her quirk while Twice finally uses his to its full potential. We also get to understand their personal philosophies, relationships with society, how they view the world around them, and their loyalty to Shigaraki and the League. And with the manga’s underdog framing and the life-threatening situations they were thrust into (plus at the time they didn’t have guaranteed plot armour the way the students and heroes did), the audience wants to root for them, even if they’re the bad guys!

Toga and Twice’s development are undeniable highlights of the arc, contribute strongly to the story as a whole, and justifiably receive a lot of attention. However, they are also primarily moments nested within the arc, tying into their personal ongoing storylines (Twice’s starting with the Overhaul arc and ending tragically with the PLF Raid; Toga’s storyline carries on into the PLF Raid with the loss of Twice and her confrontation with Uraraka). But they aren’t the primary storylines of the arc.

A primary storyline of MVA is in Shigaraki being able to identify the direction he wants to take the League in and make that a reality, as well as answering the questions of his past. MVA starts with the League’s aimlessness and with him revealing how little he remembers of his origins; the arc climaxes with him regaining his memories and having the confidence and strength to earn the Ujiko, Gigantomachia, and Redestro’s loyalty and resources, giving him the means to finally enact his dreams of destroying hero society. Toga and Twice’s development is encased within Shigaraki’s storyline, and that storyline provides a concisive beginning and endpoint structure of My Villain Academia—

Except Shigaraki’s narrative structure is encompassed by a layer even beyond that: Spinner’s story. When the arc begins, before Shigaraki can discuss his dream of a destroyed horizon, Spinner is the one challenging him about the League’s lack of direction and purpose. When the arc ends and Shigaraki stands victorious, Spinner is the witness who now understands that the destroyed horizon can be their reality. Spinner is the one watching Shigaraki throughout the arc, Spinner’s gaze is emphasized at the beginning and end of Shigaraki’s MVA storyline, and Spinner is the one who undergoes the most radical change from frustrated Stain flunky to Shigaraki’s devoted follower.

To paraphrase from @stillness-in-green, My Villain Academia is “about what Shigaraki coming into his own looks like to the people watching him”.  To Re-Destro, to Ujiko and Machia, and most importantly to Spinner.

It’s been frustrating enough over the past two years to see people who have read the manga discard Spinner’s role in the arc just because he isn’t a basic easy pretty boy didn’t get an elaborate flashback sequence the same way that Toga, Twice, and Shigaraki did. Seeing the anime not even bother emphasizes that lack of comprehension. But why does it specifically matter that the anime screwed over the Spinner & Shigaraki premise of MVA?

Aside from the anime’s decisions taking all the weight out of the story: In the current manga, Spinner is the only one left at Shigaraki’s side who is specifically loyal to and cares for him.

Barring executive meddling, Horikoshi changing his mind on plot points that he set up, and straight up bad writing (which can all very well happen): You don’t go through the effort of developing a character like Spinner, explicitly in conjunction with your main villain, as the framing perspective of an arc that is so vital to your story, without having a plan for that character. With the way Spinner is positioned right now, there’s a lot that can be done with him! And if that potential does get utilized, then the anime lost out their chance to give that potential its due.

Between the immediate loss of set up and context, tossing the pseudo-protagonist framing of the League, and gutting the emotional core of Spinner’s developing regard for Shigaraki, the anime adaptation has already lost. The rest of the episodes could be perfectly competent, but without the actual base of the arc it all falls flat. Hell, they could stick Spinner’s confrontation with Shigaraki in as a flashback in his fight against Trumpet and it won’t matter; that just nests Spinner’s story within Shigaraki’s the same way Toga and Twice’s is, when it should be the other way around.

Of course there are other reasons why MVA anime arc is set up to fail without reany spect for the source material (I know that the MLA got screwed over in the PLF Raid arc but that’s no reason to not even TRY with introducing them into the show properly just LET Rikiya be his fun, threatening, and engaging self!), but the fact of the matter is that I’m not going to get my Spinaraki AMVs and I want to fucking die about it.

[thesuperiorlokiseries]

Will Sylvia be I guess OC bc canon Sylvia kinda sucked idk I’m a bit predujiced bc I’m mad nd May be taking out on her but they way everyone was catering to her in the show Nd she kinda seemed privileged also Uhh she looked bad idk I found her disrespectful To Loki’s in general nd umm I guess ? Is will she be a main character in the rewrite

Slyvie Laufeydottir will NOT be in the rewrite.

That said, you're right in that the way her character was written and presented in the narrative was incredibly disrespectful to OG Loki and his fanbase. She was constantly the main focus and plot driver while Loki—who is supposed to be the title character—was reduced to a love interest who had little to no contribution to the plot.

Her character was a cheap ripoff of Trilogy Loki in everything except personality, something she lacks entirely if you don't count Strong Woman™ as a personality. She possesses none of the charm, the wit, the snark, the compelling vulnerability, the empathy, and the loyalty that Trilogy Loki has always possessed, and barely deserves being called a Loki variant.

All other characters are consistently used to uplift hers, not just Loki: think of how C-20's or B-15's character arcs (if they could even be called character arcs) revolved entirely around hers, and how pretty much 75% of Ravonna's character episode 4 onwards was nothing but her being cruel to Sylvie. And the fact that C-20, B-15, and Ravonna are all WOC while Sylvie is a white woman, and the racist implications therein is pretty hard to miss.

Worse, they had to explicitly make her cisfem, which is not only a huge plothole (how was she not pruned at birth then?) but also just another of the ways the show utterly and thoroughly butchered Loki's genderfluidity. And I don't think I can actually talk about how they made her Special™ just because she's a woman as well as implied that all other Loki variants are cismasc in the "HaVe YoU EvEr SeeN A WoMaN VaRiAnt Of Us?" scene in episode 5 without screaming, so I shall not.

While there will be other Loki variants integral to the plot in the fic, including primarily female-presenting Loki variants, rest assured that 2012 Loki will be the primary focus of the rewrite, that the character Sylvie Laufeydottir as seen in the canon series will not be a part of it, and that all involved Loki variants will explicitly be genderfluid, something that will be explored repeatedly and respectfully throughout the rewrite.

[variousqueerthings]

Daniel LaRusso: A Queer Feminine Fairytale Analysis Part 1 of 3

Disclaimers and trigger warnings: 

1. These fairytales are European, although there’s often overlap in themes globally. I know European fairytales better, which is essentially the reason I’m not going to branch out too far. I opted to also stick to Western movies so as not to narrow things down, but also in particular “waves hand towards all of Ghibli” amongst many others. There’s a reason the guys in Ghibli are so gender.

2. TW for discussions of rape culture and rape fantasies

EDIT: FUCK I’M A GOBLIN CHILD! FORGOT TO PUT A MASSIVE MASSIVE THANK YOU TO @mimsyaf​ WHO HAS BEEN THE NICEST, KINDEST EDITOR ON THESE THOUGHTS AND CONTRIBUTED SO MUCH TO THEM AND GENERALLY IS A WONDERFUL PERSON!

Part 2

Part 3

1. Introduction

I recently wrote a little thing, which was about Daniel as a fairytale protagonist – specifically one that goes through some of the kinds of transformations that are often associated with female protagonists of fairytales.

I used quotes from Red Riding Hood, Labyrinth, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and Dracula, which, as an aside – the overlap between fairytales, horror, and fantasy and the ways each of those genres delve into very deep, basic questions of humanity and the world is something that will always make me feral. I will be generally sticking with fairytales though. Also I am very excited about some of those Labyrinth concepts going around!

I’m going to use “feminine” and “masculine” in both gendered (as in relating specifically to people) and non-gendered (as in relating to codes) ways throughout this, depending on context.

To be binary for a moment, because sample-sizes of other genders are low, women are usually able to fall into either feminine or masculine arcs, although sometimes the masculine-coded woman can become a “not like the other girls” stereotype and the feminine-coded woman a shallow cliché – in both cases they’re also under more scrutiny and judgement, so it’s always worth asking “is this character not working for me because of the writing or because I have ingrained biases? (Both?)”

Men don’t often get feminine-coded arcs. Because. Probably a mix of biases and bigotry. But there are some that seem to have slipped beneath the shuttered fence of “Sufficient Narrative Testosterone,” and Daniel LaRusso is one of them.

2. Some Dude Comparisons (Men Doing Manly Action-Hero Things like being trans symbolism and loving your girlfriend… seriously those things are hella manly, I wish we saw more of that onscreen…)

a. Neo

Much like Neo The Matrix, whose journey is filled with transgender subtext and specifically and repeatedly references Alice In Wonderland, Daniel doesn’t go through quite the kind of hero's journey usually associated with Yer Standard Male Hero, especially the type found in the 80s/90s.

Neo is my favourite comparison, because of the purposefulness of his journey as a trans narrative and the use of Alice. But I’m sure there are other non-traditional male heroes out there (but are they trans tho? Please tell me, I want trans action heroes).

Neo “passes” as a socially acceptable man, but online goes by a different name - the name he prefers to be known by - feels like there’s something inherently wrong about the world around him and his body’s place in that society, and then gets taken down the rabbit hole (with his consent, although without really “knowing” what he’s consenting to) to discover that it’s the world that’s wrong - not him. And by accessing this truth he can literally make his body do and become whatever he wants it to.

Yay. (The message of the Matrix is actually that trans people can fly).

Neo is – kind of like Daniel – a strange character for Very Cis Straight Guys to imprint on. He spends most of the first movie unsure about what’s going on, out of his depth, and often getting beaten up. He is compared to Alice several times and at the end he dies. He loses. He has to be woken up with true love’s kiss, in a fun little Sleeping Beauty/Snow White twist. Yes, after that he can fly, but before that he’s getting dead-named and hate-crimed by The Most Obvious Stand-In For Normativity, Agent Smith, and being carried by people far more physically capable than he is (people who also fall outside of normative existence).

Trinity and Neo in The Matrix. The fact that a lot of the time neither of them is gendered is something. Literally brought to life by true love’s kiss.

I’m not about to argue that Daniel LaRusso is purposefully written along these same thought processes, so much as the luck of the way he was written, cast, directed, acted, and costumed all came together in the right way. And this is even more obvious when compared to That Other Underdog Fite Movie That Was By The Same Director as Karate Kid.

b. Rocky

The interesting thing about Rocky is that he is (despite being a male action icon) also not written as a Traditionally Masculine person. Large portions of Rocky – and subsequent Rocky films – are his fear and insecurity about fighting vs his inability to apply his skills to another piece of work and wanting to do right by his girlfriend (and future wife), Adrian. The fighting is most often pushed onto him against his will.

Much like in Karate Kid there is barely any fighting in Rocky I. Most of it is dedicated to how much Rocky loves Adrian and the two of them getting together. The fight is – again like in Karate Kid – a necessary violence, rather than a glorified one (within the plot, obviously watching any movie like this is also partly about the badassness of some element of the violence – whether stamina or the crane kick, it’s all about not backing down against a more powerful opponent).

Rocky is played by Sylvester Stallone. He’s tough, he’s already a fighter (albeit in the movie not a great one yet), he’s taking the fight for cash – so although he’s also soft-spoken and sweet, you’re aware of the fact that he’s got those traits that’d make a male audience go “Hell Yeah, A Man,” or whatever it is a male audience does watching movies like that… cis straight men imprinting on oiled muscle men sure is a strange phenomenon, why do you wanna watch a boxing match? So you can watch toned guys groaning and grappling with each other? Because you want to feel like A Man by allowing yourself to touch the skin of other men?

Apollo and Rocky in Rocky III. This sequence also includes prolonged shots of their crotches as they run. Sylvester Stallone directed this. This was intentional. Bros.

Daniel LaRusso is not built like that. But that doesn’t really have to matter. Being smallish and probably more likely to be described as “pretty” than handsome, and not having a toxic masculine bone in his body does not a feminine archetype make. It just makes a compelling (and pretty) underdog. 

c. Daniel

So where does the main difference really lie? Between Rocky and Daniel? Well, Rocky has the plot in his hands – Daniel, largely, does not. Rocky is acting. Daniel is reacting or being pushed into situations by others. Just like our boy Neo. Just like Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Snow White – just like some of the women in some contemporary(ish) fairytale films like Buttercup (Princess Bride), Dorothy (Wizard of Oz), or Sarah (Labyrinth).

This isn’t a necessary negative about stories about girls and women, so much as looking at what it is girls and women in fairytales have/don’t have, what they want, and how they’re going to get it. It’s about power (lack of), sexuality (repressed, then liberated), men, and crossing some taboo lines. It’s also about queerness.

3. The Karate Kid Part One: Leaving Home

Daniel LaRusso is a poor, skinny, shortish kid (played by a skinny, shortish twenty-two-year old) who doesn’t fit in after having been taken away from the home he was familiar with against his will. Not every male protagonist in a fairytale leaves of his own will, and not every female protagonist leaves under duress – Red Riding Hood, for example, seems perfectly happy to enter the forest. However generally a hero is “striking out to make his fortune,” and generally a heroine is fleeing or making a bargain or being married off or waiting for help to arrive. She is often stuck (and even Red Riding Hood requires saving at some point).

Daniel then encounters a beautiful, lovely girl on the beach, puts on a red hoodie (red is significant), is beaten up by a large, attractive bully, loses what little clout he may have had with his new friends, and generally has a mostly miserable time until he befriends and is saved by Mr Miyagi. To do a little Cinderella comparison: Miyagi is the fairy godmother who pushes Daniel to go to the ball in disguise as well, and that disguise falls to pieces as he’s running away.

Then Daniel asks for help, Miyagi gets him enrolled in a Karate Tournament, and starts teaching him. Daniel wins the tournament and gets the girl, the end.

While Daniel has chutzpah and is a wonderful character, none of the big events are initiated by him, except for the initial going to the forest/beach (and within all of these events Daniel absolutely makes choices – I’m not saying he’s passive): Lucille takes them to California, Miyagi pushes him to go to the dance, Miyagi again decides to enroll him in the tournament and trains him, and only because Kreese doesn’t allow for any other option, Ali is the one who more often than not approaches Daniel, and even their first encounter is pushed by Daniel’s friends.

Daniel really is at a dance/ball in disguise and receives a flower from a girl who recognises him through said disguise, it’s unbearable! It’s adorable! I get it Ali, I fucking get it!

Daniel’s main journey within this – apart from not getting killed by karate thugs (love u Johnny <3) and kissing Ali – is to learn from Miyagi. He’s not necessarily a full-on feminine fairytale archetype at this point, although there are fun things to pull out of it, mainly in the context of later films and Cobra Kai: the subtext of karate and how that builds throughout all the stories, the red clothes, the themes of obsession, his being targeted by boys whose masculinity is more than a little bit toxic and based on shame… more on all that coming up.

He doesn’t technically get a home until they build him a room at Miyagi’s place, but he definitely leaves the woods at the end of this one, trophy lifted in the air after being handed to him by a tearful Johnny and all.

And then they made a sequel.

4. The Karate Kid Part Two: Not Out Of The Woods Yet

Daniel’s won the competition, Kreese chokes out Johnny for daring to lose and cry, more life-lessons are given (for man without forgiveness in heart…) and Daniel and Ali break-up off-screen, confirming that TKK1 was not really about the girl after all, which, despite Daniel and Kumiko having wonderful chemistry, is also an ongoing theme. Daniel enters the screen in The Most Baby-Blue Outfit seen since Tiana’s dress in Princess and the Frog? Or that dress in Enchanted? Maybe Cinderella’s (technically silver, but later depicted as blue)? 

(Sidenote: At everyone who says Sam ought to wear a callback to that suit,  you are correct and sexy).

Surprise, Miyagi’s building him a room.

Double-surprise, Miyagi needs to go to Okinawa.

Triple surprise, Daniel reveals he’s going with him, because he’s his son dammit.

The Karate Kid Part Two is maybe the least Daniel-LaRusso-Feminine-Fairytale-Protagonist of the three, because it’s not really his movie. Daniel runs around with Kumiko (aka the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen), continues to be The Best Non-Toxic Boy a middle-aged Okinawan karate master could ask for, lands himself another Built Karate Rival (twice is just a coincidence, right? Right?), and eventually doesn’t die while wearing red again – twice: When Chozen almost strangles him to death at the Miyagi dojo and then during the final fight. The Saving Of The Girl (both the little girl in the storm and Kumiko) actually puts him in a more traditional masculine space than the previous movie did, even if the main theme of the film is about compassion and kindness and by the end, once more the boy whose masculinity is built on rockhard abs and matchsticks is on his knees. Daniel just has that power over big boys. It’s called kick/punch them in the face hard enough that they see stars.

There’s an aside to be made here about how much Daniel really is an observer in other peoples stories in this, although he is the factor that sends both Chozen and Kumiko into completely different directions in life (Chozen and Kumiko main characters when?) Anyway he comes out of it presumably okay, despite being almost killed. Maybe a few therapy sessions and he’ll get over it. Too bad Terry Silver is lurking around the corner…

5. The Karate Kid Part Three: The Big Bad Wolf

Alright people have written Words about the third movie. It’s fascinating. It’s odd. It’s eye-straining. It’s like olives – you’re either fully onboard the madness or it’s too off-putting for you (or you’re like. Eh, don’t see what all the fuss is about either way...). It’s basically a non-consensual secret BDSM relationship between a guy in his thirties (played by a Very Tall twenty-seven year old Thomas Ian Griffith) and a 17/18 year old (played by a shorter twenty-eight year old Ralph Macchio).

Also recently we got more information on Mr. Griffith’s input on the uh… vibes of the film. Apparently it wasn’t just The Sweetness of Ralph Macchio’s face, the screenplay (whatever that amounted to in the first place – release the script!), the soundtrack, the direction to not tone it down under any circumstances, the fact that Macchio categorically refused to play a romance between himself and an actress who was sixteen, no: it was also TIG coming up with fun ways to torture Daniel’s character and suggesting these to the director. Clearly everyone has fun hurting Mr Macchio (including Mr Macchio).

The point is that aaallll of that amounts to that Intense Homoerotic Dubiously-Consented-To D/s subtext that haunts the movie and gives a lot of fun stuff to play with. It’s also a film that – if we’re analysing Daniel along feminine-coded fairytale lines recontextualises his role in this universe.

The Fairytale goes topsy-turvy. Through the looking glass. Enter Big Bad Wolf stage right. Karate is a metaphor for Daniel’s bisexual awakening. 

“Oh, when will an attractive man touch me in ways that aren’t about hurting me?” he asks after two movies of being hurt by boys with rippling muscles. “Why do men continue to notice me only to hit me? Do you think wearing red is making me too noticeable? Anyway, Mr Silver looked really good in his gi today.” 

Daniel’s diary must be a trip.

[fragranceman]

what makes the dsmp’s story stand out

Why the dsmp is so special and why it distinguishes itself amongst the insane amount of media that we could be consuming instead right now.

So basically, this is really obvious and simple and i think we all kinda know it without thinking about it but i still felt like writing it down because it’s super important to me.

The thing that makes this story stand out amongst so many others (apart from the fact that it’s a mc rp lmao) is that all the character’s are treated like people. What i mean by that is that they can’t be treated simply as ways to further the plot, they can’t just kill off characters in favor of contributing to some other character’s arc, they can’t have stuff like “manic pixie dream girls”. and that’s because each character IS a real person, if they tried that, if someone suggested that stuff someone in the discord call is gonna go “hey, what the fuck man, you can’t just kill me off like that”.

Each character is therefore special, none of them can be 2d because they are people, they all exist as people instead of being plot devices. There aren’t any extras (except arguably the guests like drista, lil nas x, etc) there aren’t really any side characters*, because it’s everyone’s story, all the characters have someone sitting there that actually care about them and are interested in making that character special, they won’t be neglected.

that’s also why, often the characters just… don’t fit in tropes. they don’t really exist the way normal character’s do, they don’t have this “purpose” that movie or books characters do, like hero, trainer, soft character that teaches the main character about love, comic-relief, or love-interests that’s only there for 3 chapters because they die for the mc to teach them about grief.

They’re only there as, themselves. They don’t fit in one trope because people don’t do that, there’s more to them then that, they’re complex. they’re closer, more similar to real people than anything that’s been made in a really long time, and that’s because they all have a person to take care of their little character. 

there was this really cool thinking written by @/mt-words which i’ll link here about techno not fitting in a trope and that possibly fucking with people’s expectation of his characters. i think the idea that we’re so used to getting the same tropes regurgitated back to us over and over again that we don’t know how to handle stuff that doesn’t fit in them is very funny (and also a bit sad). Like, has media really become THIS repetitive and unoriginal??? But i digress.

anyway, time for quick examples, i was watching the “healthy competition” stream from 07/26 and i noticed something cool. So basically c!wilbur asks c!ranboo to ”pick his brain” and then asks him a bunch of questions about his morals and they discuss his alignments and other similar stuff right? And we can see clearly that c!wilbur is completely baffled at the stuff c!ranboo is saying about him not disliking anyone and not really having any strong stances at all. he just genuinely doesn’t understand c!ranboo and can’t relate at all.

Yet 10 mins later, he’s pouring his heart out to him and more importantly he’s talking about how he feels like c!ranboo really gets him. Obviously they are super similar in lots of ways, like their paranoia and anxiety, how they’re both kinda people pleasers, etc.

the fact that they can be in complete agreement on a topic and be so similar in certain aspects while also being complete opposites and being genuinely confused at the stuff that’s coming out of the other’s mouth on other topics really shows how multifaceted the character’s are, how 3d and real they feel.

I’m going to be adding another example from a post i just read by @/shrugofmud here it is :). It’s basically about how c!jack and ghostbur are cool because they balance comedy and drama. I’m gonna talk more about c!jack here. basically he’s comedic relief and he leans into that role right? but he’s also so much more than that, the way he balances the jokes and the clear comedy of his plotline with the sadness and loneliest he clearly feels and let’s that seep through in his jokes. He’s more than one thing, he’s more than comedic-relief, he copes with humor and covers his desire for a sense of belonging and to be heard by a bitter hatred and desire for revenge on c!tommy.

They’re more than just one thing, they aren’t reduced to a trope or a key personality trait the way characters often are. there’s so much to them, different parts of their personality that work together to make a whole, like a person :)

I also believe this is why the fandom as so much character analysis material and just keeps going, but it’s also why there’s so much disagreement on the characters and their personalities, like “oh people are villanizing c!wilbur too much” or “people are reducing c!niki to her villain arc and turning it into a ‘girlboss moment’” or “people are making c!tubbo too soft”. the character’s are harder to write into fanfic properly or analyze because you have to take into account all the different subtleties of them.

some people chose to focus on certain aspects of the characters, aspects they find more interesting or aspects they relate to, while other’s chose to focus on other aspects, which causes a bit of confusion.

It’s what makes this story so original and cool to think about and make the character’s so fucking compelling. It’s what makes me sit down for 6 hours straight and watch VODs so i can better understand different characters, it’s what makes me excited for each lore stream. it’s how human they are, how real they feel.

And this is why i’m the biggest believer and will always push for STUFF CAN BE TWO THINGS!!

[hartrathaway]

Hii I'm interested in Hartley's story but I know literally nothing about him except that he was Wally's gay bestie in the 90s, what's his deal? Do you have any comic recs for him?

HI IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!!!!!!!!

Okay, so really brief, his dealio is: born to ‘incredibly rich’ parents (we never get a specified ballpark, but Hartley states that he was ‘born with two silver spoons in [his] mouth’ if that helps context wise), Hartley’s deaf!  His parents had him get cochlear implants when he was a child, which ‘medically healed him’.  (His deafness has been treated extremely ablest by writers who actually remember he’s deaf, I need to warn you of this now.)  He’s a music and sound waves guy, a former villain (it’s an on again off again relationship, but a lot of his character is defined by his time as a hero) and he’s very leftist.  Gay best friend in the AIDS crisis turned Wally West from a midwestern conservative to a leftie as well.  (Wally’s wife, Linda Park, was a major contributing factor, but we’re focusing on Hartley for this, so I’m gonna talk about him.)

I’ve got a mix of good reading from all over, so I’m gonna break this into sections, and do my best to describe which is which.  (all my screencaps are from this website right here, because i do not own all the back issues and it would have taken much, much longer to do this post, and as such, some of them are not sized or formatted correctly)  Click the read more if you’re interested!  Please note: I am not a 100% authority figure on Hartley, and I know there’s a few stories I have left out (the story with Bart Allen’s first appearance is a good one that Hartley is in), but these are the gist of who is he, what he’s been up to, and what is the family drama.

So for New Earth (otherwise known as post-Crisis on Infinite Earths), is where Hartley actually becomes Wally’s friend, and is a hero!  I’m going to focus on this section first.  Unfortunately, due to being a minor character, a lot of stuff is broken into small stories, or things that are happening behind the scenes, so there’s no real issue x - y that’s gonna help much.

The Flash Vol 2 #31, #32 Quick summary: In issue 31, supervillain here is killing homeless people, Hartley has been helping these same people get up on their feet by helping them get squatter’s rights.  They skip the fighting because a kid asks if they’re going to fight for a half hour and then team up, and go right to the team up.  They get Linda Park in, supervillain ends up backfiring his powers.  In issue 32, Wally, Hartley, and their pal Mason officially move to Keystone city.  Hartley’s folks are in trouble while the three of them are trying to freeload (off of Hartley’s parents, his and his parents’ relationship is better now than it had been, for a multitude of reasons), Wally and Hartley rescue Hartley’s parents, we also meet Jerrie, Hartley’s sister, and all is resolved there.  Yay, the family loves each other again!

(issue 31)

(issue 32)

The Flash Vol 2 #53 Special mention this is the issue where Hartley comes out and also has to inform Wally that Wally cannot tell who is a homosexual.  Also Wally’s an IRS agent here, for shame Wallace.  At least Hartley gets to cosplay Wally at the end, so that’s fun.  Content warning for this issue specifically is some casual homophobia, just so you know that going in.

(issue 53)

The Flash Vol 2 #170 In 170, Hartley’s being contacted by his father to call in ‘a favor’ that Hartley owes him.  The main plot line includes (one of) Wally’s ex(es) showing up, a former hero and teammate, Frances Kane, otherwise known as Magneta.  A person has been found murdered at Keystone Motors, and supervillain Goldface begins rallying union workers (which seems to just be a poorly timed coincidence).  The story itself (170 - 173) in and of itself is really fun, but I’m only going to talk about Hartley, or else I’ll be here all day.

(issue 170)

The Flash Vol 2 #174, #175, #178, #179 And here we get some drama! I’m grouping all of these together, since it’s all the same chunk of the story for Hartley, but since it’s the Flash, Wally’s center stage.  In 174, the people who were living with the Rathaway family aren’t exactly big fans of Hartley.  They know he’s changed his ways, he’s a hero now, but it’s just…  something feels off.  There’s loud music sounds, and bam!  Suddenly Hartley’s there and oh boy is this gonna be a hot mess.  In issue 175, we see some footage, and Hartley’s the lead suspect in his parents’ murder, considering that the footage has Hartley onscreen.  178 rolls up, and after Wally’s getting Gorilla Grodd taken care of (and that fight is a doozy), Wally gets to find out Hartley’s been arrested for the murder of his own parents, and Hartley confesses on-screen to his parents’ murder  (Also Hartley’s got a beard now, that’s how you know he’s depressed.) 179 opens with Hartley being processed.  Linda and Wally go to see him, and although Hartley confessed, he said “I think I did.”  (emphasis is mine; in the panel Hartley says “I think I did.”) Joker?  He’s got some Joker-fied people, and poor Hartley gets it too :(  Hartley straight up nearly kills Captain Boomerang (it’s okay, Wally stops him), and surprise!  Welcome back to Iron Heights Hartley.  Gonna have a fun time :)

(issue 174; this is the least messy part of the panel, but it was intended to be that way)

(issue 175)

(issue 178)

(issue 179)

The Flash: Iron Heights Brief interlude from the main comic line, we’ve got a one-shot that’s taking place in Iron Heights.  This takes place before Hartley gets arrested, presumably (since, y’know, they’re breaking in and all).  Fun one-shot honestly, keeps me on my toes the whole time.  Hartley’s a main character, and it’s less personal drama and very story driven.  You don’t need this to enjoy Hartley regardless, but I enjoy it!

(The Flash: Iron Heights, which you can read here.)

The Flash Volume 2 #189, #190 189! Now we find out how Hartley’s parents were actually murdered!  No spoilers, but we do get a prison breakout.  This is where we get some origin story! Don’t read this first though, because you’re going to be spoiling yourself the plot of his arrest.  In 190 we get more origin, including the way DC treated his deafness. (It’s ablest, and I’m still mentally grappling how you wouldn’t notice your child being deaf for two years, but okay Rachel and Osgood, you keep being bad.)  The story goes on for now, with Hartley on the run from… well, everyone.

(issue 189)

(issue 190)

This is pretty much it for New Earth Hartley up until Countdown.

I don’t like Countdown at all.  I’m much happier pretending that Countdown doesn’t exist (both because of how it treats Hartley for a multitude of reasons, and how Thad Thawne is treated leading up to Countdown).  More happens with Hartley’s storyline in Countdown, but I hate it with such a passion that I wouldn’t recommend it at all.  Countdown leads into Final Crisis, and I’m not a fan of either.  However, should you wish to read and make your own opinions, here’s Countdown and here’s Final Crisis.  Please note, Countdown’s issues are done in reverse order (so from issue 51 to 1, rather than 1 to 51)

And now I’m going to tell you the gospel truth:

I do like New 52 Hartley!  A lot. Unfortunately, he’s not as much in the n52 Flash run as I would like (but I’m biased, as obvious by my url).  What you need to know is that Hartley’s a musician now, like orchestra director, and he’s in a relationship with Barry’s boss, David Singh. (power move, honestly)  Unfortunately, we don’t get a whole lot in the main line.  Also at this point, the Wally West of New Earth hasn’t transitioned to the n52.  Wallace West of n52 is an entirely different character, and that’s a whole other issue for another discussion.  Wally West as we know him from New Earth doesn’t come back for a while.  Wally and Hartley haven’t talked since before Flashpoint, and that’s a shame. 

So read the Crimes of Passion Anthology he’s got please I’m begging you.  The only downside is that the artist gave him a haircut.

(Crimes of Passion: Secret Admirer)

I haven’t read anything DCeased related, and while I know Hartley gets his time to shine and kiss David, I can’t tell you much beyond that.  I’m pretty sure there’s other people who can tell you more, but it’s not me I’m afraid.  (This is me saying guys, please tell me about Hartley in DCeased, someone tell me about my fictional lavender marriage husband.)

[thankskenpenders]

And so that’s it... nearly 200 issues deep, we’re done with the contributions of original writer Michael Gallagher. I’ve been asked in the past about the possibility of writing an article going over Gallagher’s run, like what I did with Penders. And I might still do that. But for now, here’s a shorter postmortem summarizing my feelings on the work of the original writer for history’s longest-running video game comic

I think it’s easy to look back on Gallagher’s silly old stories with a lot of nostalgia, especially after seeing what the series would become in its Dark Age. I can’t blame anyone who feels this way. I feel that way sometimes, too. It was a simpler time, with short, self-contained stories and a ton of puns, and it was a lot more easily digestible than a lot of the teen melodrama and half-baked sci-fi that followed. But the thing is... that doesn’t mean that Gallagher’s writing was good

Gallagher was always an odd fit for Sonic. I can’t really blame the man for introducing lame concepts like Cal and Al that didn’t fit in with Sonic early on because it’s not like he had much to work with in the early days. The guy was expected to write a monthly comic series based on a couple 16-bit platformers with very little story and some snippets from a cartoon that wasn’t out yet. He also had no way of knowing that his work here would lay the foundation for the longest video game comic ever made. I don’t envy his job. Of course he’d do a goofball story where Sonic travels back to caveman times. It’s not like he had much else to do

But as the series progressed and the cartoons and games gave the comic writers more material to work with, Gallagher didn’t really play along. He gave us a few solid, fun stories like Mecha Madness, but for the most part he was off in his own world, trying to sell us on shoehorned characters like the Forty Fathom Freedom Fighters or the Downunda Freedom Fighters who existed almost exclusively to deliver new flavors of lame pun. One time he even worked with Jim Valentino to make a naval-gazing parody of classic Guardians of the Galaxy so they could make lame puns about a comic they used to write (that very few children in 2001 reading Archie Sonic would be familiar with)

People generally pinpoint Penders as the guy who became obsessed with his own pet characters over the main cast as time went on, but really, Gallagher was just as guilty. And honestly, sometimes Gallagher doing it bugged me more. At least Penders had some prominent characters people actually liked, like Elias, Lara-Su, and Julie-Su, as well as some semblance of an overarching plot to work with. Meanwhile Gallagher was over here trying desperately to get people to care about a group of characters he had created exclusively as a vehicle for trite Australia jokes

Gallagher did introduce a few characters who stuck around, but he doesn’t really deserve much of the credit for that. Most notable would probably be Fiona Fox, who would become a major recurring character under later writers... except Gallagher only really invented her robotic doppelganger that Robotnik tricked Tails into falling in love with that one time. He created Knuckles’ grandfather Athair, the one comic character to somehow make it into a cartoon, but Penders helped out with that lore and did more with the character, meaning most people just assume he’s another Penders echidna. He created Tails’ parents, but Karl and Ian were the ones who actually did stuff with them. And he created the Ancient Walkers, who were kind of neat at first but quickly devolved into a tired plot device, only to be killed off by Ian almost immediately to cut down on the deus ex machinas. If you look at the list of characters Gallagher created, it’s mostly just randos he created for the sake of puns

And that’s really what most of it comes down to. Lame puns. I’m totally down for Sonic stories that go for a silly tone. I love Sonic Boom as much as the next fan, and I’ve been having a blast with the extremely goofy Sonic X comics. I’m not a cartoon snob who won’t watch a show that doesn’t have action and drama and lore, I’m out here watching shows like Apple & Onion. But while Gallagher could write good jokes sometimes, he mostly relied on groanworthy newspaper strip-level puns. (I guess it’s fitting, considering he’s related to both the guy who created Heathcliff AND his successor who makes those comics about the Garbage Ape.) I love me a good pun from time to time, and a lot of Gallagher’s are funnier when shared out of context, but when a story is just wall to wall puns it becomes agonizing. Puns should be a spice, not a main ingredient. And when Gallagher got a chance to follow an ACTUAL newspaper comic strip format in the Off Panel, he fared even worse. It was so rare for the Off Panels he wrote to actually be any funny

He WAS genuinely funny at times, though. I’ll give him credit for that. I don’t want it to seem like I hated ALL of his stories. (He did impress me with at least one political joke that’s sadly still relevant today, and in hindsight there’s something really funny on a meta level about the dark and gritty return of Cal and Al.) I think his best work came when he was paired with better artists. Scott Shaw’s more energetic Sonics really helped sell the cartoony comedy in the original miniseries, and obviously Spaziante’s work on Mecha Madness made that story legendary. When he was stuck with the less exciting Manak or Mawhinney, though, not so much

Beyond the puns, there was also this undercurrent of nastiness, meanness, and general grossness in his stories that I don’t see as many fans pick up on. This was mainly evident in the many odd decisions he made with the female cast

We had his take on Sally, who was treated as little more than Sonic’s annoying, moody, bossy girlfriend who bickered with him, sat on a big throne, and occasionally got to be a damsel in distress. He added Bunnie to the cast early on, but it felt like he didn’t have many ideas for what to do with her except make her the butt of jokes about her being a southern belle, including literally making her say “the South shall rise again!” We had Barby Koala’s extremely creepy flirting with Tails, who was half her age. We had that tone deaf Off-Panel joke about turning the special dedicated to the female readers into a swimsuit special (which isn’t far off from what everyone else actually did). And we also had that baffling story where Dulcy killed her mother. I have NO idea what the fuck he thought he was going for with that one.

It wasn’t just the girls, though--Antoine was somehow even more of a punching bag in Gallagher’s early stories than he was on SatAM. At least in the cartoon Sonic was responding to Antoine’s’ massive ego when he poked fun at him. In the early comics, Sonic would constantly rag on Antoine at any opportunity he got. It was VERY distracting in the early issues, and it made his Sonic come off as way more of a jerk

Later writers would often talk about needing to fix certain characters. Penders, for all his countless insufferable faults, used his early stories to steer Sally towards the version of the character fans knew from SatAM. (He then ruined Sally in his own special way, but, you know.) Just about every writer who touched him spent years and years trying to fix Antoine and make readers stop hating him. The unspoken part here is that the original incarnations of these characters that everyone had to work so hard to fix... were Gallagher’s

Again, Gallagher didn’t have an easy job as the first writer on this series, and most of his stories were... fine. Nothing I’d recommend to non-fans, but they had their moments. They make for an amusing read for their sheer absurdity. But a lot of it ranged from not very good to outright bad. We’ll always cut him some slack for having so little to work off of when he started and for writing stories that were, in hindsight, better (or at least less grating) than a lot of the melodramatic schlock that came later. I’ll always have some nostalgia for those simpler times. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that Gallagher’s stuff was ever all that good

But I can’t hate the guy too much, because he gave me the greatest Sonic character of all time

[flowerzchild]

WHY I BELIEVE ELRIEL IS ACOTAR 5

DISCLAIMER: As you have read from the title, this post is strictly pro-elriel and my personal opinion. If you don't agree or don't ship them then kindly move along no need to be mean to people on the internet over their personal preferences and opinions.

THE CASE OF THE BONUS CHAPTERS

In my opinion, if you base your argument that Elain and Azriel will not be together by only using his bonus chapter alone then it is very unwise.

As it stands, Azriel’s bonus chapter is only extra content that can be not read by the readers. This is proven by its accessibility only extends for US readers, even then the book that contains the chapter is only sold by one bookstore chain so many US readers don't have the chapter unless they are engaging in the fandom.

The same goes for Feysand’s bonus chapter. Granted, there is nothing altering in Feysand’s bonus chapter except to give us a little insight into how they came to name Nyx and them discussing Elain and her potential. However, there is one major line that makes it clear Elain’s book is next.

“Let’s focus on helping one sister before we start on the other”. (FEYRE’S BONUS CHAPTER IN ACOSF)

The line above had no business to be in Feysand’s bonus chapter if Elain’s book is not next.

Why? Well, the bonus chapters are placed at the end of the book and by the time we arrive at that chapter Nesta’s story is very much told.

Like, Sarah has said, I don’t think Nesta’s journey is finished, what I am saying is that her story is been told then it will go to the other sister, Elain.

Thus, for me, those two chapters only intend to be a confirmation of Elain’s book and Azriel as her love interest.

Now, if you want to argue that Azriel’s POV is a confirmation that he and Gwyn are mates then it should’ve been included in the actual book.

What I mean by included is his apparent ‘mate behavior’ toward her or hell anything resembling romantic interactions.

Why? So that casual reader also notices there is something going on between them.

Now, what is the purpose of Gwyn being in the bonus chapter? When you look back at the actual book, you will notice one thing that is mysterious about her: her singing/voice.

Nesta reacted to her singing and so did Azriel’s shadows. No, I am not saying she is 100% a lightsinger, I am saying that her presence in the bonus is meant to give us a little clue of her power not her and Az as mates. Like I said, there should've been something romantic between them that is included in the actual book. Their interactions in ACOSF are incomparable with Elriel's interaction.

But again, we shouldn’t base our argument on chapters that many may think not exist. The main evidence of the next book should be from ACOSF itself.

ELAIN AND ELRIEL’S BOOK CONFIRMATION IN ACOSF

Elain who seemed to be very compliant and passive suddenly show the other side of herself in ACOSF that take everyone by surprise.

Elain who everyone thinks is a people pleaser suddenly talked back to Nesta when she was about to be coddled.

Elain who has been passive since the original series suddenly volunteered to help find the dread troves or anything to help resolve the Koschei situation.

Now that Nesta couldn’t find the missing trove because she lost her powers and Feyre bound by the death bargain with Rhysand, who else the inner circle turned to?

Now, that Koschei is still a threat, which female character that was from the original series side character that had a connection with him and that’s been highlighted the glimpse of change in character throughout ACOSF?

You may argue that Elain showed little development in ACOSF, however, she is set to be the main character.

If she is not set to be the main character then it would make sense for her development to be in the background of another character’s story.

A main character’s character development is a part of their narrative journey to become a developed character at the end of the story (as we’ve seen with Nesta and Feyre). Therefore, we need to read it from their inner thoughts to witness and make sense of the scenes that make them a changed character.

Also, may I add that Nesta’s development was regressing not developing in ACOFAS but her book is next, isn’t it?

Now, when we have established that Elain is the next main character based on ACOSF alone, we must now analyze who will be her love interest.

It is either to be Lucien and Azriel (Tamlin never in the equation just because they are associated with flowers and no Elain doesn’t want to be coddled she literally talked bak to Nesta when Nesta doesn’t let her scry, where do you get that Tamlain shipper?).

Let’s compare their last interactions in ACOSF, shall we?

“Cassian’s heart strained at the pain etching deep into Lucien’s face as he tried to hide his disappointment and longing. Elain only shrank further into herself, no trace of that newfound boldness to be seen.” (ACOSF, CHAPTER 58)

vs

“...Then his gaze shifted to Elain, and though it was utterly neutral, something charged went through it. Between them. Elain’s breath caught slightly...” (ACOSF, CHAPTER 58)

We have these two interactions between Elucien and Elriel in the same chapter as if Sarah herself wants to point out the obvious where Elain’s feelings truly lay.

I know Elriel's confirmation is probably not very convincing for some people. However, we must take into account both characters’ personalities.

If you have read Azriel's bonus then you will notice that Elain is very shy around Azriel (she was shaking and nervous when she gave his present remember?) and Azriel tends to mask his emotion when he is in the presence of others (Nesta is the one narrated their charged glance).

So yes, that scene is enough confirmation for their attraction, they are naturally quiet and shy. I expect no less from them as a confirmation especially when we don't have their POVs when we initially reach that part in ACOSF.

A POSSIBILITY OF GWYNRIEL/ELUCIEN BOOK IS NEXT?

The only way I could see Gwynriel getting a book is if their book is a novella.

As I have made a post here, Azriel and Gwyn do not have a direct (read: major) relation to the main plot that can carry it to its peak in ACOTAR 6.

Because of that their book should be a novella since nothing major happen in their book except that maybe they got together.

However, we know that the novella’s release date has been pushed back and forth and Sarah herself admitted in her March Instagram live that she doesn’t know what the novella is going to be.

So it safe to assume that the next installment will not be the novella, rather, the full book or the actual book which inherently will be Elain's and by default Elriel's.

The next book could be about Elucien if only they have interactions at all in ACOSF so that it will build up their unresolved conflict. I’m basing this argument on Nesta and Cassian’s interaction in ACOFAS.

In ACOFAS, despite the fact that Nesta and Cassian were fighting there were indeed interactions between them that must be resolved. Instead, in ACOSF the only interactions that actually happen and need to be solved are between Elain and Azriel.

“He’d been replaced in training by a stone-faced Azriel, who was more aloof than usual and wouldn’t even give her a smile.” (ACOSF, CHAPTER 59)

The thing that needs to be resolved between them is explained by their misunderstanding that happened in his bonus chapter.

Yes, I am aware that I said we shouldn’t base our argument on his bonus chapter, however, the line above is a direct callback and outcome to what happens between Elain and Azriel as well as Rhysand’s warning in his bonus chapter.

How else you’re going to explain why Azriel became more aloof than usual if not resorting back to that particular fight between him and Rhysand because of Elain? How else you're going to explain why Elain and Azriel suddenly stop interacting after they are confirmed to be attracted toward one another?

Regardless of our contrasting opinions and interpretation of Azriel’s POV, we must remember that it is a bonus chapter and those scenes in his bonus might not be canon for those who have not read it or learned of its existence.

Also, in order to speculate the next book's main character, we need to get past the barrier of romantic interactions and actually think about what the next main character will contribute to the main plot of the story.

As it stands, only Elain can carry a book by herself regardless of any romantic subplot. And because Elain’s book is next and we’ve seen close to zero interactions between her and Lucien then her love interest will be Azriel.

Elucien and Elriel have been built up alongside each other since ACOMAF, and yet only one of them that’s progressed and is being set up when it comes to the plotline. So yes, Elriel is the endgame.

[its-miichan]

TGCF criticisms

Spoilers and unpopular/critical opinions ahead! Beware! I tried to like this, I really did, but this novel really makes me frustrated. It clearly has so much potential, but so much of that potential was wasted on pandering romance and shallow caricatures of main characters. Overall 1.5-2 stars because it gets worse the more you think about it. CHARACTERS: 1. The main character, Xie Lian was wildly bland and boring. He is presented as the kindest, purest, most selfless person in the world, but really he was just a bland white lotus. With Xie Lian, his personality can be described in just a sentence or so, while the author's other two MC's (Wei Wuxian and Shen Qingqiu) are both charming, funny, and deep with their own motivations. Xie Lian just walks around in the story with no purpose and he says that he wants to help the common people, but he really hasn't done that! He's barely helped anyone at all, and those times he did help people are quickly followed by flirting with the ML and forgetting all about the people he was supposed to help. Honestly, in the past, Xie Lian was also the biggest jerk ever. He gave up his own friends and family's well being for his own sense of justice and was stubborn to a fault and refused to listen. What's worse is that none of these flaws are actually addressed, and the story just lets him roll with it and never actually calls him out on it. If you want to see all the reasons why he's a poorly written character, check out this reddit post: https://www. reddit. com/r/MXTX/comments/j2l9ye/why_xl_is_a_poorly_written_character_in_my_opinion/

2. The ML, Hua Cheng, is equally as bad. He is extremely shallow and such a static character, with his development in the present times being nonexistent and his development from the past to the present being wholly nonsensical. His personality is very cliche and his motivations and thoughts are left entirely up to the reader's imagination, which significantly reduces character depth. He could've been such a great character, a ghost king who rules over hell and is morally grey, but instead he is dumbed down to a Xie Lian fanboy. Everything about him not related to Xie Lian is thrown at us in a few paragraphs if at all, and what little motivation and thoughts about him we do get always fall flat. [Like apparently this guy saved him once, and he fell in love with him and became devoted to him for 800 years? Like people get saved all the time and we don't see them going 800 years and 3 deaths for a guy they've barely talked to] Also, he is wildly unlikable. Of course, this is purely subjective, but he is irritatingly smug and lords over literally everyone he meets. It doesn't help that he's an insufferable Mary Sue with an endless array of powers, intelligent as hell and knows literally everything, really good at painting, sculpting, woodworking, and on top of that the richest, most powerful, most handsome, and most charismatic man in the book. His biggest flaw is supposed to be his insecurity and inferiority complex, but that barely ever comes up and 90% of the time he is arrogant and smug. More information on why he's badly written here: https://www. reddit. com/r/MXTX/comments/iskkp5/why_hc_is_a_bad_character_in_my_opinion/

3. The side characters in my opinion are written far better, but obviously quite underdeveloped. They are all three dimensional and have their own thoughts, emotions, and feelings as well as a believable backstory, but so many of them are quickly offed to make way for the main couple, some of them not only not becoming better, but actually getting quite a whole lot worse. Qi Rong, who was supposed to be super strong demon that is one of the 4 great evils becomes a comedic relief gremlin who just shows up for some comedy and then leaves. Feng Xin and Mu Qing, the MC's childhood caretakers disappear for like 100 chapters after we're given their backstories and then once they reappear, they don't do anything either. Shi Qingxuan, who in my opinion is by far the best character in the book, has his arc left open with no ending at all, only to be forgotten about for 80+ chapters only to reappear completely the same with no character growth at all. All of this is because the main couple take up so much of the book, and the rest of the side characters and their character growth is sabotaged for the author's ego so that the main couple can look better and get more screen time.

4. I lost interest in the story pretty quickly due to the bland characters and their out of place romance and how unlikable they were. A lot of this novel was very surface level, and it's pretty on paper, but when you think about the characters a bit longer, the more bland and shallow they become.

PLOT: 1. The plot was... There was no plot. It was just a collection of monster of the day arcs that aimlessly meander about and then everything returns to the status quo once they return to Xie Lian's temple/home. Obviously books 4 and 5 were a lot more to my taste because the writing was a lot more concise and the pacing was less slow and pointless, as well as actually incorporating fantasy elements and shaking up the status quo. However, the other 3 books, especially books 1 and 2 had way too much fan service, pointless romance, and plot lines that don't go anywhere and don't contribute to the story.

2. The past plot line, or the flashbacks were pretty interesting, except for how b*tchy the MC was. Book 2 has a lot of important information and some action, but a lot of it was boring fluff that didn't really contribute to the story other than introducing the villain and showing how XL and HC met. The rest, we're literally told already and there's no new information. Book 4 was supposed to be suffering heavy, and I agree that the character development was alright, but it was too brooding and oppressive. In the end, I just stopped feeling bad for Xie Lian because of how bad the story was trying to make you feel for him. I was not invested in him, and although he was significantly more deep in this book than in the other 4, the bad logic is still there. [you wanna kill people but then someone gives you a bamboo hat and you're all sunshine and rainbows again?] The suffering is excessive in my opinion, and although it's supposed to provide contrast to the romance, it just feels done in poor taste. seriously, 20 chapters straight of suffering is not necessary, and the pacing and tone suffers because of this. The flashbacks really don't contribute too much to XL or HC's character development, but is just there to be angsty and cryp*rn.

3. The final battle was the most unbelievable thing I've ever read. All the gods got together and the first part seemed pretty epic as we got to see all the side characters finally showcase their powers.... Until the MC and ML show up. The MC and ML show up, and instantly the background extras—excuse me I mean side characters, go back into hibernation as the main couple show off how cool and powerful they are. And then we get to the final confrontation, which has our MC, ML, and MC's two friends face off against literally the most powerful being in the freaking universe. I thought it would be a tense fight scene with lots of close calls, but I was so disappointed. Instead the ML is so OP that he breaks the spells binding MC's powers, and MC becomes so overpowered and slams the big boss into the wall with the power of love while his two friends just stand there doing nothing.

4. A lot of what happens in the flashback is directly Xie Lian's fault, but the book never seems to register it? I won't go into detail on this point since it's already covered in the first Reddit thread, but basically because of XL's s*upidity and refusal to listen to anyone else, the people around him suffer.

WRITING: 1. The writing wasn't great. It was very choppy and as I said previously, very monotonous and monster-of-the-day. Yes there were great scenes which got to me, but most of it was really boring and descriptions and dialogue dragged on and on with no end, and with the bland MC, it wasn't even interesting such as the dialogue in MDZS was. Side arcs were introduced with no warning and ended with no warning, leaving the reader wondering "Why was that even there in the first place if it was just going to be forgotten about?"

2. The water demon/wind god arc. The opening and most of the middle of this arc was extremely good, the logic and mystery was written well, and Shi Qingxuan's (the wind god) antics were funny. But after the big reveal and the tense climax, the story just... stops. Like it's literally forgotten about. [The MC gets dragged out by his all powerful lover, they romance some more, and forget all about Shi Qingxuan who is literally left in the hands of the second or third most powerful demon ever who is also his mortal enemy]

3. The incessant flirting really got on my nerves. The tension and tone of the entire story got completely ruined because of the MC and ML flirting and the MC blushing and giggling while the ML teases him and everyone else is literally fighting for their lives. This felt very fan-service like, and it felt like the author stopped trying and just fed us dog food after an emotionally taxing arc so that she wouldn't have to close out the arc properly, completely destroying the tone. Speaking of the tone, the tone whiplash was just... wow. You're fed fluff and romance during or after a high tensity and highly emotional scene with no connection at all, and you're just supposed to accept it instead of wondering what's happening to the characters you actually care about.

4. Romance and side arcs quite disconnected from the story. Quite frankly, most of this book is just romance with the plot and characters put in second place because "lOOk hOw CuTe the COuPLe iS!" You could literally take out all the side arcs and the story would literally be no different. The romance overtakes the entire plot and becomes the main point of the story. With her other two books, the romance is like the icing on the cake. With this book, the icing overtakes the cake and becomes the cake.

5. Perhaps one of the biggest reasons I was uninterested through most of the book was due to the lack of tension and suspense. The flashbacks were better in the sense that Xie Lian was helpless and couldn't figure anything out, which was why he was just as likely to get hurt as anyone, making the stakes significantly higher. But in the present, with the existence of Hua Cheng, that tension is completely gone. This is because HC knows basically all there is to know, and what he doesn't know he can figure out in seconds. Additionally, he is super powerful to the point that anything that can harm XL can be one shot K.O'ed by him. At this point the conflict becomes trivial to the point where I'm just asking "why are we solving this mystery anyways when HC can just blast it into oblivion?"

6. The fact that HC does the bare minimum in arcs frustrates me. If you're going to include a character with powers that will basically deem any threat against them null, then actually use them at least! HC's apathy does not feel like a coherent part of his character, but an excuse for MXTX to drag out plot lines and make things unnecessarily long and winded. Additionally, his apathy is contradictory. On one hand, he is super overprotective of XL and wants to make sure he won't get hurt a single bit, but on the other hand, he has this advanced ideology of the 21st century that he believes XL is capable so won't constrain him as much. If anything, they should start out with HC as this overprotective follower and have a dysfunctional relationship, and end up with XL teaching HC that he is able to do things and doesn't mind doing them, and that HC can live a life outside of him as well. That would've introduced some narrative stakes and romantic tension, but no, MXTX just had to make these characters perfect in every way.

ROMANCE: 1. The logic is so flawed here. The reason that HC started loving XL is literally because Xie Lian saved him once as a child and therefore he will devote his entire life to XL, not caring about literally anything else. The reason that XL started loving HC is even more so. The thing is someone like say Shi Qingxuan has done every bit as much for XL as HC has, but we don't see XL fall in love with SQX, do we? HC literally listens to him talk and XL falls in love with him, and although it does make sense due to XL being lonely for 800 years, how low the bar is set really bothers me.

2. The constant blue-balling was annoying. At some point, the ignorant MC became annoying and self indulgent instead of cute, and having it be drawn out over nearly 200 chapters makes it even worse. The MC is supposed to be super intelligent, but he literally misses all of the super obvious hints the ML drops at him, which is so weird.

3. It felt like MXTX (the author) went overboard on the romance here. Like she tried way too hard to the point where it was obvious she wanted to make this "the most romantic CP ever". The aesthetics went so overboard with butterflies and flowers as romantic themes, thousands of lanterns, the red string of fate (which didn't even do anything in the actual story), poetry, etc.

4. The romance could almost be described as kind of creepy. Like the ML obsesses over the MC for 800 years, isolating himself from the world and not taking any side of the story besides MC's is supposed to be romantic, but it really isn't. The ML carves thousands of statues of the MC, which is sweet in a way, but also really, really creepy. To quote someone from NovelUpdates who put it 100x better than I could: " They don't feel like equal lovers, HC obviously worships XL to an unbelievably amazing degree while XL only knew he existed from only a while ago (Is this obsession? Stalker-ish? I know his stalker-ish tendencies are usually played for laughs, but realistically?) HC very very very rarely calls XL by his given name but with GeGe or CrownPrince, dude has a name you know. I know you feel lower than XL, but seriously man, the guy's your life partner. HC would destroy the world if XL said to. He'd probably try to talk to XL first, confirm things, but if at the end XL really does want it, HC would do it. He lives for XL, he has no other reason to do something aside for XL. No reason to say NO for himself. They're not equals in which one wanna do something bad, the other would stop him because they have their own convictions. You can't tell me one only lives for one person's sake, will do anything for that guy, and has no attachments in the world aside from that guy, is a healthy person. It may seem romantic, but when you actually think about it, it becomes uncomfortable."

5. The romance was really cheesy. There were some powerful moments, but it was mostly flirting and "he fell on top of me" or "he needs mouth to mouth". Most of it was just the ML flirting with the MC, which you may like if you like this kind of stuff, but I really didn't enjoy it. Overall, I was desperate to love this novel, but I couldn't because of the shallow characters, unlikable main pair, and the constant abandonment of great plot lines in favor of the shallow romance. It felt like MXTX was constantly trying to one-up MDZS in angst, drama, and romance, but at the same time it felt like she didn't know what to do with the characters and world, and therefore fed us fan service and took the easy way out. This review is purely subjective, and if you want to read this go ahead, but I'll be seeing myself out.