#it's sad we didn't get to see her character develop in general

[ironyscleverer]

doing a reread of the lockwood books and-

Show!Lucy: I am traumatized by the death of my female best friend whom I was best friends with. I know how to do a perfect smokey eye. I never wanted to be an agent and am easily frightened, but I am otherwise Talented and empathetic. I wish I was dead, but not as much as Lockwood. I eat biscuits funny.

Book!Lucy: I hate anything remotely feminine so much. I have Zero female friends for a solid three books. I'm incredibly nosy and need to know everything, all the time, especially if it's about Lockwood. I don't wish I was dead but I wish I could kill. In fact I can, and I have.

Both: Brown women make me extremely jealous and insecure. Chucking things (e.g. swords) is a valid solution to most problems.

[duke-daemon]

hazbin hotel redesigns wooooooooo

okay so. i'm gonna discuss my thoughts about them n shit, putting under a readmore bc it's gonna get long and rambley. sorry in advance for the shit formatting, i'm on mobile </3

just some general shit about how i would rewrite it. i think the premise of redeeming sinners is entertaining but is executed horribly. i also am a fan of the "heaven isn't great either" idea but again, executed horribly. i'd make the hierarchy of angels more accurate because it's cool as hell and i have autism about it. the characters from hell would swear still (albeit not as much), but the angels would outright refuse to swear or make vulgar jokes ever. this would be partially to further the gap between heaven and hell and make the differences more stark.

hell would also be more like dante's inferno (again because i think its cool). the ars goetia would get a full redesign and would be more prevalent in demonic society.

now for the characters!

---

VAGGIE VALTIEL:

starting off with vaggie, or Valtiel as i've renamed her because let's be honest her original name sucks. Valtiel (Val for short) was an aspiring power angel who wanted to be an exorcist. she looked up to lute and thought the idea of killing demons was really cool and badass. however when she actually was on the field for the first time she discovered how awful this actually was. she tried to help a few demons but lute figured it out and felled her right then and there. the rest of her story is relatively the same. personality wise she's more stoic and less prone to all-out aggression. she still get angry, sure, but it's in a quieter and more menacing way. you DO NOT want to fuck with Valtiel.

CHARLIE:

next up is charlie! i had two ideas for her. the first one (unsettling drawing) has her as a mannequin/doll type demon. lucifer and/or lilith was unable to conceive and as such they built a kid from scratch. she's overall similar to og charlie personality wise, very kind and cheerful despite her unsettling appearance. she struggles with empathy sometimes but really does mean well. her motive for rehabilitating sinners is so they get to see their family again. being able to see heaven from where they are in hell must make them sad, so she wants to help make them happy again!

the second idea for charlie has her as an angel. specifically i casted her as a dominion angel due to their reputation as holy judges. she was once a demon but has been rehabilitated and has risen into angelhood! she now wants to help her former kin do the same and redeem themselves in heaven's gaze. again, similar cheery personality, but a bit more prudish in this rendition

tangent time!

as a side tangent, valtiel and charlie would have a different relationship in this rewrite. their relationship felt shoehorned in in the original show, like it was just there for the hell of it. we didn't see much development between them and it just felt kinda bland. so in my rewrite, charlie and valtiel are amiable exes. they tried dating when valtiel first fell (when charlie was still a demon in the charlie-angel version) but realized their feelings for each other were much more platonic than romantic. they ended things off on good terms, deciding they were much better as friends. they are still besties to this day! later charlie ends up with emily (or 'ellie' as i plan to rename her)

back to the characters

Alastor:

note: i made alastor mixed-race, which could be seen as bad by some due to vivzie saying he's black. however, as many have pointed out, he has no ethnic features whatsoever and i honestly wouldn't be surprised if she said that just to get away with using voodoo symbols (a closed religion) in his imagery/design. like viv, i am incredibly white and have little to no knowledge of voodoo, and even if i did i would not use it for something like this anyways due to the stigma the religion already has and (again) it being a closed practice. as such i removed it from his concept altogether, but made him mixed race (white passing) because.. why not i guess, i forgor my actual reasoning

with that being said...

alastor is by far my favorite of the redesigns and i'm honestly tempted to turn him into a legally distinct oc. i imagine he's somewhat reserved, along the lines of norman bates albeit a bit more extroverted. during his life he was a serial killer with a day job as a radio announcer. he took pleasure in reporting about his own murders on the radio, but that is eventually what got him caught (ie accidentally letting slip info that wasn't released to the public). as a result he was sentenced to death. upon arriving in hell, he quickly rose through the ranks to borderline overlord status and is a feared presence by demons and sinners alike. why is he bothering to assist in the hotel project? who knows... his motives are a mystery, like the rest of what he does

(he isn't actually alastair crowley i just thought the naming convention was ironic. however he may have also dabbled with satanic magic in lifetime..)

Angel Dust:

TW: brief discussion of SA

this is definitely my second favorite redesign. i loooove insect themes and wanted to do more than just Extra Arms, so he now has fucked up legs and a lot of eyes too! story-wise, angel used to be a criminal mastermind, hated by both the mafia and the feds. he was a gentleman thief, arranging massive heists under the cover of night while also partaking in the occasional drag show. he ended up a cocaine addict later in life, which caused his work to become sloppier. eventually he was killed in a heist gone wrong, specifically shot by the police.

i'm not gonna go too in-depth on the SA part of his story, but he is hypersexual due to being assaulted in both his life and afterlife. it would be something he'd be working on in the rewrite. his reason for coming to the hotel in the first place may have even been for help with this trauma. underneath his sultry exterior is a broken guy who really just needs someone to care about him for who he really is and not for what his body can do.

LUTE:

so lute and adam are some of the characters i have the most gripes about. the biggest one being why viv chose adam as the leader of the exorcists in the first place. if she wants a biblical figure tied to demon killing, Archangel Michael is RIGHT THERE, aka the one destined to kill satan during the events of Revelations. if she wants the first human to die, that would be Abel, not Adam. and i kinda doubt abel would want to do the stuff that HH!adam has been doing. if she wants an angel related to torture, Dumah is her guy! an angel that rules over wicked souls and tortures sinners every day except sabbath. so many better options...

with that out of the way, Lute is still the lieutenant of the exorcist, who are a specially chosen group of powers sent to purge hell once a year. think navy seals. she's pretty much the same as in the show, albeit more muscular and visually different from other exorcists (seriously why do they all look exactly the same?????) she's a very repressed lesbian who hasn't had time to work on that due to her duties

i also redesigned the exorcist uniform/armor because those LED purge masks are fugly as hell and their clothes don't even look remotely like armor.

Adam + Final Thoughts

i did start a redesign of adam but got bored of it. regardless, i think he'd be the head of C.H.E.R.U.B. instead of the exorcists. he doesn't want his children to make the same mistakes he and eve did, so together they started C.H.E.R.U.B. to help lost souls stay out of hell

final thoughts uhhhh i'm tired. show sucks, it had so much potential but viv ruined it by being a shitty writer and an even shittier person. the designs are fine i guess but they all look exactly the same and are in desperate need of variety. the humor is dogshit, saying dick and balls and penis over and over and over again doesn't make it any funnier than the first three times you made that joke. anyways that's it, i hope you liked my inane ramblings. gonna go vanish for another forty years or so, adios

[odusseus-xvi]

Pomme, the french egg

So I did a post about the french streamers (and their characters) and their mischaracterization I could see from time to time (https://www.tumblr.com/odusseus-xvi/724443078442778624/hello-helloooo-friend-hi-i-just-wanted-to-say) But I realised I didn't talk about Pomme, who has arguably the MOST mischaracterization I can find :

Most of the fandom see her only through English or other languages streams (BBH, Philza and Maximus mostly recently) limiting their views of her in general, but because of that a lot of people don't seem to know what her personnality is like, and most of the time in fanarts or fanfics she just feels like Talullah (which people also mischaracterize) but french, a little sweet girl in a little dress, so I decided to do a little summary of what she is like and some of her traits that you may have missed :

What people do get right is that she is most of the time polite and empathetic, that people get, though they tend to simplify her to only that.

She is very intelligent (learned a bit of create with Aypierre) and likes to both theorize and gossip with Baghera.

One of her parents is ETOILES !! She is a good and competent fighter ; just a few days ago she went and did a Nether Dungeon with Phil and Etoiles while Talullah worked on her garden. Her main weapon is a Moonlight GREATsword, a GREATsword, a BIGASS SWORD. She participated in infiltration missions in Federation Buildings alongside BBH, and Aypierre, in which she saved her father (Aypierre) from being caught and interrogated by Cucurucho

She has developped a deep paranoïa when it comes to the eggs' and her own safety ; between the combination of the attack of the code on her a while back, where she lost ten totems in mere seconds, an attack so strong that the admins went "ok my bad, we went a little far" (Draw her with golden scars !!! The tens of totems that saved her !!!), and the explosion at the Wilbur Party where she lagged just enough that she wasn't tped as fast as the other eggs and saw parts of the explosion. She is now scared of explosions, and always on the lookout (She also shows from time to time that her inventory and hotbar is constantly filled with gold apples and splash regeneration potions.) : During Etoiles' solo fight with the codes, when she saw the first "Dapper is down" message, and that she knew Phil was AFK, she went and pressed the OVO button HERSELF immediatly, and she got there faster than Forever !!

She is a really good writer, her diaries are praised by her parents everytime they read it, and she decided it would what would represent her in BBH's Egg Museum : She built a library where she will put her books for everyone to read. She is also a good and patient builder, with particular attention to interior design : While doing that she has shown a bit of maniacal side : She LOVES symmetry, and is irritated very easily when it doesn't go that route : One time Etoiles was teasing her by putting random blocks in her build and she went "PUT THAT GRASS BLOCK DOWN !!!" and when he continued she just left without saying goodbye.

She doesn't like to lie or steal things, she is honest in that way, BUT she often dodges questions either by saying things like "Don't worry about it :)" or by trying to guilt trip the asker by looking sad or drowning herself. She aslo picked up from Baghera the way she buries herself when mocked or shamed.

She can have a very dry and aware humor coming from Antoine's irony and cynicism and Aypierre's teachings.

Also fun fact, because of timezones, her default state on the server is sleep deprived. She is a sleepy egg.

TL;DR : She is a sweet Badass, and I'll stand by that. I need more fanarts of her with scars, her sword, dark circles under her eyes, and LOOKING LIKE THE GENTLE BADASS SHE IS !

[bibibbon]

MHA chapter 424 (rant)

This chapter was horrible. Look, if hori thought that this chapter could provide the fans with some relief he was wrong.

This is supposed to be the epilogue or the beginning of it and half of it is just useless BKDK. Honestly this was so stupid I feel like this chapter which was labeled the epilogue could of been used to wrap up a lot of character arcs and update us on events instead of us getting some little bkdk crying ending. In all honesty I still hate bakugo and think that their arc is Hella underdeveloped considering that Izuku never gets any intropsection going on and bks development is heavily flawed.

Still hate what the series did with Izuku. Izuku as a main character and a character in general is heavily underdeveloped so I understand why he is getting the hate that he is getting. However, izuku was also a victim in this and didn't get proper development at all, like him and shigs whole storyline was sidelined and they barely formed a relationship before or even during that fight at all. Izukus lack of intropsection is also one of the reasons why he is getting hate like it's low-key hori's fault for not giving us any development when it was right there. I also think I need to remind some people that izuku is only 16 and had all of this on top of his shoulders but I see the point that shig a victim should of been saved. However, it's not like izuku didn't try his best, like he tired all he could it's at the end of the day shig that didn't accept it until it was too late. Also, can we talk about how horrible hori did izukus design dam I miss his fluffy hair at the same time I get it. Also I hate that he still has some OFA embers and all like it makes no sense I thought they were gone with that one punch that was apparently so strong it CHANGED THE WEATHER?!?! Honestly, I hate that inko is nowhere in sight and that she allowed him to go back to ua like?!?!?!?

Shigaraki deserves better. Oh dam I just wish that someone would adopt shig and izu and give them a better ending cos this isn't it. Shigarakis storyline ending sucked in all honesty especially that retcon that stated that shig apparently knew that AFO was manipulating him?!?!?! Also am I the only one whose confused as to why shigs last words were directed towards spinner. As angry as Iam I was also expecting some horrible stuff like this to pop up considering that hori has consistently been trying to separate Tenko and shigaraki so this is what we get but just even worse.

So nothing on toga and ochako? No offense but I hated that this chapter was just centered around BKDK like where was toga? Or ochako? Why is it that we only get one small panel of ochako looking pensive and sad when last time we saw her she was on the verge of death and in CRITICAL condition. Also what about toga? Like we haven't seen her in a long time. Is she alive? Is she dead? In all honesty if she is alive and gets no concequences then I would call that bad writing.

What about the todoroki family ? Poor Todoroki last time we saw him his family fully surrounded touya forgetting about him. In all honesty he deserves so much more and my arguement stands. We should of gotten an update about the todoroki family as well. Iam not a fan of enji neither am I huge fan of the direction touya/Dabis character has taken but I would of enjoyed an update.

What about the others? Kurogiri, spinner and the rest!??!!?!?! Iam bais but dam it seems like this chapter has forgotten all about the other characters it put in critical or difficult situations and just chose to focus on some stuff that's so irrelevant. Like the small panels should of been reserved for spinner and kurogiri on characters that we should of seen updates on. While we should of gotten full pages on todoroki and ochako

Also it seems like the pacing is quite fast, too fast really. How is it that they're just going back to school like I thought people resided in UA and that some of it was heavily damaged during the war? What about the chaos and destruction that's all over Japan has that been rebuilt? Also how did parents allow their kids to go back to a school that made them glorified child soldiers?

It's a shame we don't get any focus on izuku nor do we see his mother's reaction. I mean we see and get more focus on bakugo than we do when it comes to izuku and it sucks horribly.

In conclusion, I heavily disliked this chapter and giving it the title of epilogue is horrible. I bet that this is like one of the last chapters we are getting.

[jillflame]

It kind of sucks that after 8 years, the best thing that Izuku could think to do with his life and experience studying to be a hero is teaching.

This is NOT a diss at teachers- they are literally the backbone of our society. And we all love Aizawa and everything he brings to the series, but Izuku's character isn't written like Aizawa's. He's never really shown to be someone drawn to teaching. There isn't any foreshadowing for this in his character.

Some might say "but 'children are our future' is a huge theme of mha", and it is, but not for Izuku. The point of Izuku's character is one of a student, not a teacher. It's literally called My Hero ACADEMIA. He is the youth. He is the future. We even see him walk into the school as an adult with a backpack, not a briefcase, because he's always going to be a student. He's a lifelong learner.

He's our walking, muttering, quirk-encyklopedia boy. And while being knowledgeable and studious are certainly qualities that could be found in a good teacher, Izuku has shown to have these behaviors less for a "having the knowledge to pass it on" sake, but more for his own desire to expand on them. Izuku is a natural researcher.

Teachers look backwards so their students can look to the future. As a quirk researcher, Izuku could have been working directly with his friends in the field, constantly recording stats and finding new and safe ways to push his friends' powers further than ever before. He could have been applying his talents in quirk analysis while addressing the quirk-singularity theory, actively finding solutions to help the future generations and the up-and-coming heros of now. And if for some reason he HAD to get a job working with kids, he could have been working as a quirk councler alongside Uraraka in one of her programs (where he could have been an amazing role model to younger children who might not know many quirkless individuals!). And I'm not a shipper, but that could have at least been a nod at how his and Uraraka's relationship developed beyond school.

He could have been working with his friends. He didn't have to be lonely, caged in the walls of UA. It kind of feels like he gave up, and that sucks knowing that that's not the Izuku we met at the start of the series (in a sad regression of character kind of way).

When All Might told Izuku he couldn't be a hero because he was quirkless, he walked home crying to himself because he wanted to follow the advice of his idol, but couldn't. He begged and tried to reason with himself to face reality, and struggled because he couldn't go against his own heart. This Izuku feels broken, like he gave up that unreasonable part of his heart, and it feels wrong to end the series on that note when that part of him was what was emphasized as what made him a hero to begin with.

Granted, it's already established that teaching was not the end-all-be-all for Izuku, and he gets to be a hero in the end, but as sweet as it is that Bakugou and his friends pitched in to help make that dream come true, it could have been all the more meaningful if he played a role in continuing to chase that dream by working in the field any way he could too, instead of waiting around to literally be handed the opportunity again.

[the-power-of-stuff]

The Live-Action Sukka Manifesto that I Just Couldn't Keep in My Head

So I've been marinating in my live-action Sukka thoughts for the past three days, and when someone sent me an anon asking if I had any thoughts about the changes, at first I went, "DO I EVER?!" and proceeded to dump my entire brain on the page.

But then I worried maybe the anon wouldn't want to see my entire brain and figured I'd make my own post with my Many, Many Thoughts, and reel it in a bit when I answer the ask. And then link here if they're interested in the dissertation.

I'll put all the excessive details and spoilery stuff under a cut, but I'll start by saying, I didn't hate it! And I was afraid that I would.

There were things that I was bummed or had mixed feelings about, but there was also a lot that I genuinely enjoyed. All the Sukka interactions were cute and still had some decent character development, and I had fun with the episode overall (I've watched it thrice mind you, and definitely have not given the rest of the series that kind of attention). And I didn't necessarily dislike the differences from the original; I think I've just taken more of a "that was an interesting interpretation" approach.

But I better start that cut now, because I'm about to go on and on about this. I'd love to know what others think, though!! Even if the opinions aren't the same as mine! Please feel free to comment, reblog, shoot me an ask. If nothing else, I'm excited that the LA has gotten people talking about ATLA again.

So, I want to start with Suki’s characterization, which overall I found to be delightful, even if it was a bit of a watered-down version of her animated self.

In the original show, Suki is confident, sassy, and doesn’t take shit from anybody. She’s proud to the point of almost being arrogant, and even a little mean. What we get in the LA is someone who’s still confident in terms of her status and her skills, and still proud of her heritage and her role in her community, but with significantly less sass. And while LA Suki still seems like someone who wouldn’t take anyone’s shit, we don’t actually see LA Suki deal with that much shit from anyone (because Sokka isn’t really giving her any). 

There is one moment in the show where her interaction with Sokka is a little contentious, which is when he tries to relate to her as a fellow guardian of his people. I think Suki’s question to Sokka about how is he protecting his village if he’s not there is meant to be a challenge to his swagger. However, the line is delivered with a softness that makes it seem as though Suki is, at least in part, genuinely curious. (This curiosity makes even more sense when we consider the fact that Suki’s eventually going to leave Kyoshi Island so she and her Warriors can take part in the war effort, and that she will have to contend with the question of “how do you do that without abandoning your people?” when coming to that decision. The LA lays a lot more of this groundwork than the animated show did: Suki outwardly expressing her desire to see the world, her mother’s secretive looks every time Suki gazes longingly at Sokka the possibilities…)

Compare these two moments, for example. These are both scenes where Suki expresses disbelief at Sokka's claims about his warrior-hood. But in the LA, Suki speaks rather quietly and mildly, in contrast to the brash sarcasm of her animated counterpart. LA Suki is also tilting her head down and away, looking at Sokka indirectly. OG Suki is leaning in close, getting in his face, smirking derisively with her hands on her hips.  

I think there’s something to be said about the LA in general smoothing away certain personality traits that could be seen as negatives but that are actually strengths that are so narratively well-developed they occasionally show up as flaws (for instance, Katara’s fury, or lack thereof). Animated Suki is prideful and stubborn; she berates Sokka until he gives her sad puppy-dog eyes and has zero hesitation about making an example of him in front of her whole class. It’s a little ruthless, but these traits are also 1) what gets through Sokka’s thick skull (he, too, is prideful and stubborn), and 2) what makes her such a dedicated ambassador of Kyoshi and such a strong leader of the island’s Warriors at such a young age. I feel like the LA writers were afraid of making any of the protagonists seem too abrasive—everyone in the LA has had their edges sanded down, including Zuko, including Aang—and in general this tends to lead to less realistic representations of humanity and conflict, less satisfying character development arcs, and fewer opportunities for reflection and learning. 

That being said! I went into watching the LA with negative expectations about what we would see in terms of character development, and thus was pleasantly surprised. 

The LA removed the need for Suki to be as ruthlessly stubborn as she is in the animated show because LA Sokka’s skull is not so thick (and I'll get into that a bit more later). So what we get instead is a sheltered Suki with a helicopter mom who is so hilariously awkward that she has no idea how to interact with other humans. And, to be honest, I enjoyed this version of her so much that I even thought to myself, “I wish I’d thought of that!”

Suki is a straight-up weirdo in the LA and I love that for her. The way she puts Sokka in a chokehold and then looks at him after she sets him free like, “That was good flirting, yes? Would you like to be my boyfriend now?” And then her disappointment when Sokka walks away as if she’s thinking, “Why didn’t that go well, I thought boys loved getting put in chokeholds?” She is so precious, I just want to put her in my pocket. And this characterization might even be more broadly relatable than a super-confident Suki brimming with sass. Who among us hasn’t made a complete fool of ourselves in front of a crush by coming on way too strong and having no idea how to flirt? I mean…real. 

And because Sokka is also mostly just making a fool of himself trying to impress a pretty and talented peer (instead of covering up his insecurities by wrapping himself in misogyny) this leaves room for the two of them to be attracted to each other right off the bat and for their interactions to be more overtly romantic throughout the entire episode. Which, avid shipper that I am, I have to admit I have been gobbling up for the past three days straight. This episode was an IV drip of romantic tropes hooked straight to every Sukka shipper’s veins. 

Shy glances from across the room? Check.

Walking in on the other person half-naked? Check. (Y’all, Suki looks Sokka up and down for a FULL TWENTY SECONDS yes I timed it from the moment she appears in the background, yes you should count it to see how long that really is. Talk about awkward.) 

Tripping so they end up falling into each other’s arms? Check.

Wide-eyed shock that turns into surprise thirst after being pinned to the ground? Check.

Shooting each other satisfied smirks as they kick ass side-by-side? Check.

Jumping in front of literal fire for each other? Check and check!

Like, I could live off this for the rest of the year. 

But look, there’s a lot that I love about the way Sokka and Suki’s relationship is portrayed in this episode besides those romantically indulgent tension-creating moments, and it has to do with Suki’s admiration and validation of Sokka. 

Suki really looked at this boy with his mouth stuffed half-full of steamed bun and went, “Must have.”

With the removal of overt sexism from this episode (for better or worse), the story focused much more heavily on Sokka’s development as a leader. He still has that sort of posturing display of self-confidence that comes from inexperience and trying too hard to prove oneself (“Ferociously…deadly tiger whales…”), and while at first Suki seems put off by this and his attempts to liken himself to her (“I’m not just a warrior, I’m a Kyoshi warrior”) it doesn’t take her long to decide (*cough*after seeing him shirtless*cough*) that she doesn’t actually mind this behavior (and in fact maybe she kind of likes it because maybe it means he likes her and maybe it means she can show him how much she likes him by slicing the tops off all those melons with her fan). She seems genuinely interested in his boomerang and impressed that he hunts, and then later, she immediately takes interest in training him in the Kyoshi Warrior style. 

After they spar, she casually refers back to the fact that he’s his village’s protector, and this time, she does it without the disbelief and defensiveness. Because he’s finally stopped posturing. He opened himself up and gave himself over to Suki’s expertise, and in that way he proved that he has the will and desire—the heart—of a warrior. And Suki tells him so while touching him gently and gazing at him longingly in the soft golden glow of the late-afternoon sun. And as a die-hard Sokka stan, I love seeing him loved and appreciated like this. Adamantly. Ardently. The Sokka cheerleader in my head is going wild. “YEESSSS!! Our boy deserves this!!” Because we know that, in the animated show, he goes through a lot more struggle and self-doubt before he receives this kind of external validation. And while we also know that this makes for an incredibly satisfying growth arc, I gotta admit that it’s a fun bit of indulgence to watch Suki talk Sokka up directly to his face and then want to kiss him really bad. Y’know. As a treat.

That said, I'm very attached to and appreciative of the way their relationship is framed in the animated series. I love that their respect and affection for each other grows even after the disaster that is their first few interactions. In the LA, they are drawn to each other immediately, and the only barrier seems to be a bit of awkward stepping-in-it-ness. In the original, they have legitimate conflict, and they both have to give a little—Sokka becomes more humble, Suki becomes more tender—before they get to that point of potential romantic interest. And I think it says a lot about Sokka’s character and his desire to learn and grow that he is willing to humble himself in front of someone who, as far as he’s seen, has very little regard for him (slash has a good deal of animosity towards him). Giving himself over to Suki’s expertise costs him more in the animated show. But once he does, he and Suki learn and grow together. He shows Suki who he really is, shows her how dedicated and determined (and fun and a quick learner) he is, to the point that, by the end of the episode, she can allow herself to be vulnerable with him. And she does validate him in the original Kyoshi Warriors episode, just less directly than the LA. Her kiss on his cheek and “...but I’m a girl, too” is about forgiveness and acceptance and acknowledgement and respect, as much as or even more than it is about affection. There’s a little bit of romance, too, but it’s just little baby seeds of it, and it feels very natural to let those seeds germinate over time until we see Suki again later in the series. 

Which brings me to the live-action kiss. 

I’ll be honest, I was a little on the fence about the kiss. I want Sokka and Suki to kiss as much as possible in every conceivable universe. So there’s a part of me that was banging on the table and whistling with obscene joy. But the other part of me thought it was too much too soon. However, my hesitance pre-supposes some things about the second season (not least of which that there will be one), namely that it will handle the reunion with Suki and crossing the Serpent’s Pass anything like how it was done in the original. (Of course, one thing we now know for certain can't happen in a hypothetical LA season 2 is Suki pranking Sokka at the ferry station because he doesn't recognize her without her makeup. Do I love the expression on LA Sokka's face the first time he sees Suki's? Yes. Am I sad that this completely ruins their whole "You don't remember me? Maybe you'll remember this!" game? Also yes. But truthfully, I don't know if LA Suki would've been up to the prank, anyway. Not sassy enough. ;))

The Serpent’s Pass is one of my favorite episodes of all time, and that moment on the bluffs when Sokka and Suki are talking around Sokka’s loss, with the moon shining down on them all the while, and they almost kiss with the moon hanging between them in the background, and then Sokka pulls away without any other explanation besides, “I can’t”? That scene is so absurdly powerful and beautiful and an amazing moment of character development for them both, and I feel like it loses a lot of impact if they’ve already made out once. The fact that they kiss for the first time after that moonlit moment, when Sokka realizes that Suki doesn’t need protecting the way he thought she did, and in fact she was there to protect him, and he can finally just let go of this burden that he’s been carrying with him since Suki first mentioned she was joining them (slash since his dad put him in charge of an entire village at 13), and then and only then can he open his heart to what he feels for Suki, and in fact opens it so wide that he just cannot help but jam his mouth onto hers before she’s even finished talking…? I mean. C’mon. That’s poetry. But, again…loses impact if they’ve already had a first kiss.

But who knows what, if anything, they’ll actually do with that storyline. So for now, I’ll just enjoy my live-action Sukka kiss because, honestly, dream come true.    

Or almost a dream come true. Because there's a huge camelephant in the room that I haven't addressed yet, isn't there? The lack of Sokka in the Kyoshi Warrior uniform...

And I don’t think we can talk about the omission of Sokka’s Kyoshi Warrior uniform without talking about the omission of Sokka’s sexism. Because if Sokka isn’t sexist, then why do you have to put him in the dress and makeup of traditionally female warriors to make a point about how women are strong and capable, too? So here’s what I’ll say about that (and I know there’s a lot that people have said already, so I’ll try not to belabor the point.) I don’t think leaving out Sokka’s sexism was necessarily a detriment to his character arc. I do think, however, that leaving out Sokka’s sexism was a detriment to the message the show was trying to convey about sexism. 

Now, in the Northern Water Tribe episodes, the LA still gives us a message about fighting against the kind of systemic, institutionalized sexism that you might not be surprised to encounter within a very old-fashioned society or from a very old-fashioned gray-haired man. But what about the off-the-cuff, everyday kind of sexism that you might experience from an otherwise good person who is close to you? A person who loves you and would do anything for you but who gets carried away teasing you about “girly” things because of intrinsically-held biases that they’re not even that conscious of having? 

I think it’s important and meaningful for male and female audiences alike, and everyone in between, to see these different forms of sexism and misogyny—to see them, to recognize those behaviors in others and in ourselves, to be able to name them, and to have examples of fighting against them. We see the former kind—institutionalized, systemic—in Pakku. And we did see the latter kind—familiar, personal—in Sokka. And now that’s lost.

Not only that, but there’s the form of sexism that says boys aren’t allowed to do feminine things lest they relinquish their maleness. And in the animated show, we got to see Sokka combating this form of sexism, too. Not only does Suki show him that girls can be fierce warriors as well as boys, but he learns that wearing makeup and a dress does not make him any less of a young man.  

So, yes, I think the lack of Sokka in Kyoshi Warrior garb was a missed opportunity. And not just because Sokka looked really good in uniform and we all should have had the chance to see that, including and especially Suki. 

Alright, this is more than long enough, so I'll leave off with a moment from the LA that gave me great pleasure.

I needed this moment, y'all. And I was so afraid it wouldn't happen. I needed Sokka being protective, I needed him using his newfound Kyoshi Warrior skills to fight, and I needed him jumping in front of fire for the girl who'd taught him. If we couldn't have Sokka in the Kyoshi Warrior uniform, at least we had this.

[lavandaea]

*inhales deeply*

There's spoilers ahead so, yeah, be careful.

This weekend episodes have actually broken my soul.

He didn't even need his feelings to be reciprocate, HE JUST WANTED TO BE WITH HER.

Dear writers, some things to ask, why so much screen time to second male lead? Why create such chemistry? Such backstory? (Spoiler alert: that will make us sympathize with the supposed villain) To just fuck*ing rip his heart out and pulverize it like Grandma with the cow bones, yes, just like that.

Let me get this straight, after having been raised in an environment of violence, pain and God knows what else for God knows how long, he falls in love. He experiences ✨feelings✨ ,he puts all his trust in her like never before, he shares his past and then he gets betrayed.

I swear I never seen someone cry so with so much meaning, feeling, with so much back there.

We made progress for the last (at least) five episodes TO JUST END IT IN A SINGLE ONE.

This could have been handled a lot better in a lot of ways and about a lot of topics that I could actually write an essay.

Let's begin the the main leads.

So, in order to have some sort of feeling about ML and FL loving eachother you need to put screen time ON them. Yeah, they support eachother, they have known far before Si Oh, they are funny and a lot of things more. They even kissed and very passionately, wow.

Just one thing, Why didn't I even blink during that scene but found myself hitting the pillow and blushing when Si Oh did such mundane things as taking her home, opening doors for her, fixing her purse, hair, looking at her with those "I love you" eyes,👏feeling👏guilty👏about👏making👏her👏uncomfortable👏 with👏his👏feelings👏for👏her HELLO??, WAVING HER BACK WHILE HE WATCHED HER GO, SMILE EVERY DAMN TIME HE SAW HER?

I´ll tell you why. Because I know, thanks to you, that Si Oh was experiencing for the very first time what it's like to have human interaction that doesn't involve violence or having to be wary of everything and everyone all the time.

Even after having lived a life of shit, even after still living a life of absolute shit he still wanted to be connect, to be happy, to make her happy, to love and be loved. Moreover, I couldn't help just to feel happy for him, sad, angry, fucking rageous (not more than him, obviously).

Meanwhile, I barely know Hee Sik aka the male lead.

I remember seeing his mother once and I think that's what I understood about his private life. Sorry, I forgot about his deceased brother, that could have been a good topic to develop if it wasn't just mentioned once somewhere in the sixth chapter and left there to rot. Other than that, I know he is a cop, loves his cops friends and loves Nam Soon, also he is really loyal and good person.

Nice👍, very nice. But that's not personality or backstory, that's a job and some general traits everyone should have to live in a society and have a job where you usually do the teamwork thingy.

So, what else??

Or does the man just exist for his job and girlfriend?

It is just I simply don't understand it, you create a seriously complex character that has all kinds of potential and you want us to root for...Yeah, no. He literally could be an extra with how little and simple information we receive about him.

Even Shi Oh had some time to box being a drug dealer and full time whipped for her.

I'm just saying that you want me to suddenly dislike someone you took a considerable amount of time explaining but I have to like this good guy because you just pointed at him 👉🧍, and said, "here's the good guy, please love him"

Sorry, I cant do that.

If you haven't noticed, you just made a character I fell obliged to sympathize.

If you wanted to make him evil and hot you should have just made him evil and hot.

It worked just as well with Jang Han Seok from Vincenzo.

Not have him have "REDEMPTION" written all over him just to go with "Actually, no. He has no chance. 😃". It is for lack of a better term, frustrating. (Pointless)

Instead, maybe you should have dedicated that screen time for the construction of the main leads relationship.

Oh, yes. Another thing since we are talking about the matter.

ML and FL relationship progress got weaker and weaker since she had started to spy on Si Oh. And then one episode it was like "Oh, yeah, forgot to tell you, they are actually dating by now" Bom, a kiss. If I need a kiss to know they are in love, there's something going on back there. If a great amount of people are rooting for a couple that is not the main one, something is going on there.

Something lacking.

Scenes of them in love: well acted, nice, cute, cool, okay. But it is like picking a random romance book and start reading it ten chapters ahead, they are in love, but how did this happen??? Last time I check, they were in a friends-catching-fealings-zone.

Where's their development?

I know where is it. In the fake relationship, that it was being used just to turn Si Oh into a complete monster with probably not chance of going back.

"You have suffered a lot, yeah, I see. Anyway here's more pain. Suffer more and go cause some trouble because if not, there's, apparently, no plot"

Nice job.

I have been saying this and I will say it again, kdrama writers/directors are not ready for traumatized villains. They are afraid of them.

[lemon-natalia]

Nona the Ninth Reaction - Chapter 29

Nona just wanting to go home and go to bed is so sad, its heartbreaking to think that even though the overall situation they were in wasn’t great, she and Pyrrha and Cam & Pal are probably never going to have that kind of small domestic happiness together again

and Noodle is still okay!! thats one bit of good news at least. i was going to say that bringing the dog along with them seems a little risky, but then again don’t think Noodle will be much safer left on-planet with BoE either

okay, Aim’s talking about how she, and her name, are one part of some kind of message? i’m guessing thats possibly related to the implant she and Palamedes were discussing back in the school. two major questions here then: why did Palamedes want to know about it (unless that was implied somewhere and i didn't notice), and who is the other BoE member that finishes the message?

i wonder it’s somehow related to/similar to the message that Cassiopeia left for the Sixth telling them to leave the Houses ... welp it wouldn’t be a Locked Tomb book without some kind of horrifically cryptic statement that will make absolutely no sense until the next one comes out

Pash’s attempt at making a joke is kind of endearing, in an ever so slightly pathetic way

BoE members not in the loop seeing Kiriona ‘i’m pretending to be a corpse’ Gaia walk across to a truck: i pretend i do not see it

also i can’t help but wonder what exactly Kiriona thinks of the whole Camilla and Palamedes becoming one person thing. especially since she and Harrow are separated right now

ngl this is a pretty bad reunion of most of the surviving Canaan House gang, as far as reunions go. half of them are dead/reborn in some shape or form (Gid, Pal, Cam), Judith’s not really conscious from what i can tell, and Harrow’s not there at all technically. props to Coronabeth for somehow ending up being the most normal of these lot

We Suffer’s name is very accurate, she really is just having one of those days where everything is going insane huh. poor lady

woooh let’s drive across the universe after one impromptu driving lesson, this is gonna go so well 

PAUL. Paul. like yeah i get there’s probably a lot of religious symbolism going into that name but it also feels almost hilariously mundane 

i’m … also just not too sure how i feel about Paul as a general development honestly? it's not that i think it’s bad writing, it fits with two characters who have been incredibly co-dependent and love each other a great deal. it’s just more that as a more general trope/plot overall it’s not something i particularly like personally

‘U Lap’ Gideon your nickname game has vastly decreased in quality since you threw yourself on a spike. like cmon ‘Sex Cam’ was right there

yknow of all the chapters to leave on a cliffhanger mid-sentence this one isn’t actually so bad

[spaceorphan18]

You said you saw Deadpool & Wolverine - how did you like it?

Oohh, thanks Nonny! I had been planning on writing my thoughts! :)

I liked it!

I thought it was a very apt bridge between the old Fox films and Deadpool coming into the MCU.

I'm not a huge fan of uber violent things but something I appreciate about the Deadpool films (and Ryan Reynolds' brand of 12yo humor) is that behind it all is a lot of heart. And this film retained that, through all the crudeness, the point is that ultimately, Deadpool/Wade is a really good guy. And I can respect that.

Getting into specifics... which are very spoiler-y

I thought the plot itself was very thin, and this whole thing probably works better as a bunch of sketches, but it's fine. I was never asking for a lot from this film, and it did the only thing I was really asking of it, which was provide entertainment and get Deadpool into the MCU.

I appreciate that they really didn't shit on Logan's legacy while bringing Hugh Jackman back. Jackman seemed to be having a good time of it, which I'm glad to see.

Btw, loved all the musical jokes we got in this! Loved it.

I LOVED the montage of various Wolverines -- I understood most of the references! Yay me for reading X-Men comics for so long!!

The Henry Cavill cameo? Perfect.

I'm not surprised we didn't see a lot of Wade's family and friends, but it is sad they got such a small amount of screen time.

Ooff, Vanessa continues to be the one really weak piece of this whole thing. Does the actress not want to be there? Does she have limited time? Why is her character always being reduced to love interest whom Wade does everything for but there's no development of her character? Idk.

The TVA stuff is fine. I feel like it's so convoluted now that it doesn't really matter that it ultimately doesn't make much sense. I do think the MCU needs to start moving away from the multiverse stuff. It's just getting too mucky and it's lost focus.

Oh, why is Thor holding Deadpool, I'm sure it was just a gag, but oh god would it be hilarious if they brought it back at some point.

The Happy stuff. It's always great to see him, but how did Deadpool end up in the main universe? Why am I even questioning this?

Cracked me up that they hid Peter's face in that picture. Can't give Sony any more money than necessary.

Oh, in general, I love LOVED all the fourth wall breaks. This is why I watch Deadpool movies.

Cassandra Nova was fine as a villain. The actress was great! She just feels... a little too seriously evil to be in this comedy movie. Idk.

All the returning c-list villains were fun!

Having Chris Evans return as Johnny Strom was a brilliant move and I loved it. Having him just be the opposite of Steve Rogers on top of it was hilarious. Perfect use of a cameo, film.

Wesley Snipes returning as Blade. Goddamn. I'm kinda surprised he agreed to do it!

Great to see Jennifer Garner return as Elektra. I'm kinda glad I made myself watch all those marvel movies (which I still need to finish...) I appreciate this cameo more (and the dig at Daredevil).

Yay Laura returning! Could have always used more of her, but she did what she needed to.

Okay. Okay, let's talk about it. Let's talk about Channing Tatum as Gambit...

The Pros : The accent was fun, the way they used his powers was fantastic and original, they didn't make him the butt of jokes or treat him like a joke, there was a general respect for the character overall and I really, really, appreciate that being a Gambit fan

The Cons : Look, I have nothing against Tatum personally. He just doesn't look right. He's too think in body shape (not meant in a derogatory way), and his face just doesn't work in the headsock. Not to mention the costume looked plastic and cheap.

I really hope Gambit is back, but can we have Tatum as Gambit here like we had JKras as Mr. Fantastic in Dr. Strange? Just a one time fun gag? Please??

Remy is having a really good year despite dying everywhere.

The Deadpool squad (or whatever) I'm afraid I haven't read enough Deadpool to really get it, but it was fun. The side scrolling action sequence reminded me of a video game. And honestly, Wolverine with his cowl on, just kind of loosely moving reminded me of a video game as well.

I'm super curious to see how Deadpool plays within the MCU now. Let's go for it.

The credits were a nice touch. I'm glad they could honor those films for what they did, and I'm glad we can now move on from them.

Tl:dr it was fun and I liked it! :)

[utilitycaster]

🔥 each member of vox machina

Vax: really the sadboy narrative for Liam has always been stupid but it's egregiously bad that it started with Vax, who is like, sad for maybe a fifth of the episodes and largely because Liam O'Brien's actual mother was dying, like, with all due respect what the actual fuck, fandom.

Vex: I am the founding and probably only member of the "Vex is my favorite character and also I am 100% cool with Colville's depiction of her." The generosity she shows even very early on in C1 is still a generosity borne of some degree of security - they have a keep by then - and I also just don't think you have to like a character to write them fairly. Granted it's been a minute since I read early VMO but nothing stood out to me as out of line with my understanding of Vex.

Pike: repeating myself once again but I like Pike a lot and wish we could have seen more, but because we didn't, people who say she's their favorite in C1 do tend to turn me off in that I feel they're looking for a relatively flat and widely praised character to project onto rather than a character who goes through more messy development.

Grog: I think he's often underestimated and I was guilty of doing so myself, to be honest, until I saw Travis play more and until I personally got better at D&D. Also I still maintain that playing INT 6 sensitively and well is infinitely harder than playing INT 16, all things considered, and this is yet another reason why people should play high INT more often.

Scanlan: Also underestimated; I do understand being turned off by the whole extremely horny playboy thing but as I've said before Bard's Lament is a major litmus test for me: if you think Scanlan is completely at fault here, you are wrong, and if you think he's not partially at fault, you are also wrong.

Tary: I genuinely love him and think he's a great character and one of Sam's best, but while his character arc is strong the Taryon Darrington Arc of the VM Campaign, through no fault of his own (and partly bc I personally think D&D Hell, especially pre-Descent Into Avernus publication, is kind of boring), is one of the weakest parts of the campaign because it's kind of a grab bag of loose ends. With that said I would happily watch more Darrington Brigade-one shots.

Percy: Percy is also generally a litmus test in that it's like. Is he a good person? Eventually I believe he becomes one, and even before that I think he's very sympathetic and deeply traumatized and like, 24, so I get it, but also, who the fuck cares. This ties into the Essek and the Ashton opinions and all kinds of other stuff but why are people so invested in fucking absolving their blorbo of all sins? I want someone who's lived enough of a life to have done some heinous shit because that's fun and interesting and it's pretend and also because then they can have a rewarding character arc by either working towards redemption or coming to terms with who they are or spiraling into tragedy.

Keyleth: I like Keyleth a lot but I am, as this post indicates, far more sympathetic to Vex, and so while I do think Keyleth is a fairly good person she is also extremely sheltered and naive and terrified of doing the wrong thing and I would have, like Vex, wanted to scream at her half the time were I just a random NPC wandering about the campaign. On the other hand C3-era Keyleth? fantastic no notes she has grown up in such an interesting way.

Tiberius: I think we, and by we I mean people capable of separating the art from the artist, can recognize that his concept actually fucking slapped and unfortunately he was played by someone who absolutely sucked in a myriad of ways. I would love to see the alternate universe in which the same general concept (prodigy sorcerer from Draconia who is full of themself) had to face not just the destruction of their civilization but the realization that they were taking advantage of the Ravenites and while they did not deserve to be killed by Vorugal, had done nothing to justify aid from those they had subjugated either. Like, the alternate world in which one of the current cast members or like, a close friend of the main cast (Ashly, Erika, Mary Elizabeth) played this is one I'd love to see.

[ben-talks-art]

We need to make "explain but doesn't excuse you" a more popular sentence

I was thinking back to my list of favorite characters, and how I have people like Rameses in it and thought to myself "Why do I like this guy again...?" and then I started to recall why I was so into his story, and honestly ended up liking him even more.

Something that I noticed about the way writers try to handle backstories nowadays, is that they love to use a sad past to make people be on a character's side and then proceed to absolve them of their crimes.

Like, we love redemption arcs, we love character development, we love bad guys turning good... But I feel like we might love it a bit too much, as if we were waiting to forgive a character for all they did before even getting to them realizing the mistakes they made.

People love picking a villain they're into and going "Oh, it's not their fault, it's because they were raised that way, it's because they were abused as kids, it's because they lost someone they loved, it's because society treated them like trash, it's because they never had friends, it's because their girlfriend dumped them on Christmas eve..." and so on.

There is an obsession with "My character did nothing wrong because their past justify their actions!"

And here's something people tend to forget. A past explains one's actions but doesn't justify it.

Being abused by society, being trained by terrible morals, being oppressed and attacked... they all explain why someone would think it's okay to hurt others, but doesn't actually justify them hurting others.

Just because we know why someone's doing all the things they do, doesn't make the stuff they do any less bad.

This is why I love Rameses. They show the human side of him, they show he wasn't just born evil, they show that he could have been a decent person if he just had the right people to raise him.

They could have so easily made him just a cartoon villain who happened to be born evil and take joy in making others suffer under his command, but no, they show how he became this way, how he went from just a regular kid to a tyrant unable to feel sorry for others' pain and suffering, who was so brainwashed by the traditions of his family that he couldn't even process the harm he was bringing to others and why he couldn't even see the slaves as actual people in agony.

And, again, what I like about this story is that they explain how he became this way, but they don't paint him as blameless. The story acknowledges that he has blood in his hands, even if he himself doesn't, and it makes sure that he pays for what he did, even if what he did was the result of a long process of terrible lessons being passed down by generations that he didn't start.

At some point he became an adult, he became free from his father's command, free to make his own choices, and free to listen to the right people, free to look at what his actions were causing...

He had agency for his choices... And he still made the wrong decisions.

I feel like if others tried to tell this story today, they would either have made Rameses more evil from the start so you wouldn't feel bad for the tragedy that befalls him, or they would give him some sort of realization where he thinks about the harm he did and develops a change of heart in the last second.

I keep thinking about how there was a group of people going "Azula did nothing wrong!" when the new live-action Avatar show started and they basically tried to move all the blame from her to her "big bad evil father."

It makes me wonder if they released Prince of Egypt today, if there would be some sort of revisionism where people would try to argue that Moses is the villain for "not saving his brother" or something like that.

To the point I'm beyond curious about how things are going to end up in Arcane, since that series has a very similar story with two siblings that ended up splitting apart and reuniting but realizing that they were completely different in the paths they chose to follow, with one trying to fix the errors from the past and the other embracing them and trying to view them as part of who they are.

Is Arcane gonna go all the way and make Jinx an irredeemable monster that needs to be taken down, or are they gonna try to pull a "deep down, Powder is still there!" stuff?

I really hope they don't. I hope they give her an ending similar to Rameses where he's defeated but doesn't even get the luxury to die, just left alone and powerless while watching his most beloved family member moving on with his life while he's still stuck in the past and suffering the consequences of his actions and realizing that he achieved nothing.

And what I especially like about his ending is that even at this point he still doesn't realize why he's being punished so much, just showing at full power the danger of ignorance and refusing to see what's right in front of you.

It would be a terrible tragedy, but I think it would make for a great message.

[stedelovemail]

just unleashed a lot of General S2 Thoughts on twitter but i'll crosspost them here too. a lot of it is me agreeing with things that have already been said. ineloquent love-fueled criticism in here

i am still on my initial first 3 episodes reaction that everything is too fast; it's unfortunate that there are only 8 episodes this time and they're trying to put so much into them at the cost of good pacing and satisfying arcs because this show deserves better than that. i/we all know it COULD be better and that's exactly what we want for it, but alas: max.

i'd probably have stronger reactions if they had more time to flesh out everything they're trying to do – if i had more time to process everything they're trying to do 😭 there still is a lot i'm enjoying, though. the main relationship of course; most of everything w/ the crew, especially when they aren't separated! bc i'm kind of sad about the swede being apart from everyone, and now buttons too.

and archie: she's definitely likeable but we still really don't know much about her, let alone enough to really feel the connection between her and jim…? meanwhile olu and zheng are indeed a "well they're cute!" situation but i don't understand why they're doing it after how big of A Thing jim and olu were in s1. they were the secondary protagonists. now they have less screentime and importance it seems. and who do we have getting more of that instead… oh boy.

i really wish they didn't embrace the fandom white guy favoritism bc izzy's arc is just. insane. mindboggling. completely different character here, plucked straight from woobie fanon to replace his canon self. they want us to fill in the gaps re: development we didn't actually see, but i can't. it was so annoying watching the fandom push oluwande and jim aside to claim that izzy was the third most important/main character, and now they might as well have just done that. it was annoying to see the fandom apply ed's traits and development to izzy in order to sympathize with him, and now they've kinda done that too.

zero acknowledgment (as of right now) of shit he did and now i have to just remember the silk dressing gown dialogue while izzy comes up to ed wearing another robe in bed with stede and congratulates them on having sex?? being in drag after he was the most femphobic motherfucker throughout s1? getting to sing (and ruin that whole scene) to an admiring crew after the whole 'give us another song eddie!" thing that was torn away from ed in s1e10? i'm so over this. i wish he had just gotten worse bc who's this man being so kind and open and giving RELATIONSHIP ADVICE out of nowhere, he's gone from tolerable to completely unbearable for me which sucks with how much screentime he has now. like, go away already.

anyway there's still the finale to hopefully fix some things. i'm not overly worried about ed and stede since it's already obvious they're gonna reunite, but i am a lil worried about how the VERY end will be. david promised something satisfying though, so….. agh…..

[yoonyia]

ok guys, is anyone's favorite enderverse book children of the mind

because I'm reading it and it's just

bad

like the writing quality is slightly worse

like the wording and structure itself

but also I feel like im talking to an AI

it just remembers stuff wrong and then like rehashed everything ever so slightly but not in a subtle recon way its just flat out stating information that's contradictory

like in the first 2 chapters I nearly died of a stroke because miro said "long years spent with a crippled body" or something along those lines

and I'm sorry if I'm getting the timeline a bit wrong here

miro got hurt at the wall

then got treatment for a few days or months (let's say 3 months to be generous but it really just sounded like 4 to 6 days)

then he stopped getting better

and let's say he spent another 3 months being crippled with his family (which he didn't, he said he didn't but let's just say he lost track of time) then he left on a 3 week space trip then he came back and the time between when he came back and when he got his body back is probably about 6 months (or less cause the pacing of orson Scott's writing, if there isn't a wide jump in time over weeks usually goes rather slowly or like day by every other day)

so even being incredibly generous it couldent possibly have been years, plural

giving him what I think is an extra 6 months still only makes it 1 year

and I know that even a year can be long and it can effect you completely yes but the writing is making it sound like when miro got his body back he also got back his youth??? (which I guess is true cause he said he had the body of a 90 year old and there was stuff about Jake having the build of a 20 year old so when orsonscottcard is referring to youth it isn't just age) but it's framed as if he reversed several years of his life???

not so much in xenocide, in xenoxide it sounded like he's having the worst few months of his life and is being an angsty adolescent about it (which he is and boy is he justified for it)

but in children of the mind it sounds like he got jaded and was fundamentally changed to be miserable?

he was always not very happy I dont know where this sudden simplification of his character came from

all the characters feel like 2 steps removed from what they actually are (except for ender but I'll get into that)

valentine being so uncomfortable with this child version of her also feels off

like I get it, it's supposed to be weird but her first reaction and her continued reaction has such a disconnect that dosent feel like a development and more like a sloppy paste over that's being stapled on top of the old and holding on with hopes dreams and memory loss

because her reaction initially was "ender you poor soul, you kept with you the one thing no one in this world could ever be, perfect morality that you compared you me and everyone against it" and ofcourse she was weirded out but it felt more weird because she was perfect rather her being a val

like she felt sad about it sure but less betrayed and disturbed and more sorry? sorrow? disappointed? understanding?

and like that can develop into being disturbed sure but we don't see that?

and it feels out of character for Val to be so disturbed while saying she's not

there's so much telling

but like yes it's showing us she's shuddering yea but it's like shoving "she's scared" down your throat with people EXPLAINING why she would feel that way

I remember when I first speedran through the series that I felt the children of the mind was the weakest (mostly because I couldent remember shit from it) and while reading children of the mind thought the writing degraded starting from xenocide

but I think for xenocide the writing didn't actually get worse at all it was just a complicated book with a lot of moving elements that just makes it harder to write and read

and reading back on it it was done pretty well even while being a lot of things all at once, it felt like I was actually in the crisis situation with everything slowly pulling together

but children of the mind just feels wrong

like it was slapped together

it feels like it was orson scott card loosing interest in the story and doing all his favorite story beats and relationships he wanted to happen and rushing them in

but then he kept talking and found out he had more to say so it's just awkward

there's so much romance in this book that's such a sudden shift to the duo and partnership aspect when it so far have been

children in a school, soldiers

a family

a community of ramen

duo love interests???? (with a love triangle in there for miro??)

like the entire series so far have been focused more on the collective and how 1 person effects them

and as the books go on that one person gets less important then eventually he's not needed anymore which make the story less decentralized, WHICH SHOULD MAKE IT MORE EXPANSIVE BUT IT DOSENT it feels like we got to a point where the issues are so big and complicated that no one person can solve it and we have to give everyone the attention and then we're sucked back into a centralized perspective between like 3 groups

it feels like a simplification

there's nothing inherently wrong with it it just dosent follow the message or the flow or the plot of the other books

it kinda grabs you by the collars and shoves it into the plot of dirt and hope you don't realize it was actually sand before

before the issue felt real

even if one thing was solved there were a hundred other things that needed to be finished

and when smaller things or huge things get solved the tension eases a bit (which it should) but I feel like the urgency disappears

like there is still a time limit (rather artificial one but it does add tension to the story) where they can't take all the humans off of lustania before the fleet comes

but there's no impending doom there was before

yes there Is a shorter list of things that needs fixing

but there's also an ever closer deadline and the big problems that most people or worried about aren't solved yet

but the story dosent have the urgency to make it feel real

I love peter and Wang mu in an isolated bubble

but in the story they kinda go a bit off the rails and kinda deus ex machina things

and Wang mu dosent care about the people in lustania enough to share the impending doom and peter 2 is stressed out and miserable but he's that always so it dosent show a heightened sense of anxiety or tension

he was also born yesterday I feel like the book thinks it has to explore what he us before putting him in a proper contextual emotion or motive

which it does but it's but it could have been done better

it feels like a first draft

I'm working on the rewrite now because I genuinely want to (not make the story better persay) but atleast more consistent within themselves because it's getting disjointed

I dont know tell me your thoughts

[bibibbon]

The Lov deserved better endings

Yeah they did.

I personally think the leauge of villains deserved better arcs in general because realistically if we tried to redeem them with how the war arc played out how would society react? Also how would the leauge themselves react? It's all complicated jumbo and in the end ITS HORI WHO WROTE THEM THAT WAY

like yes they could of been redeemed if hori wrote them to be saved but he didnt. Iam still incredibly pissed at how underdeveloped shigaraki is and his whole goal of being to destroy and not actually developing into "I want to destroy the HPSC/the corrupt society that has caused me and the leauge pain" still pisses me off.

Look I know this is an unpopular opinion but I don't mind someone from the leauge not being able to get saved and dies (but at least make the death well written hori come on man). Personally Iam a sucker for toga dying simply because of the way I have come to associate her character with red spider lilies, blood, cannibalism and pomegranates. Also it just adds to the tragedy of her character which is something I love when it comes to her writing.

On the other hand while I do think depending on the characters arc and actions some (and I mean also hero characters) should face concequences for some of their actions or attone for them. I think that twice, spinner and mustard were pretty redeemable characters.

Shigaraki and Dabi should of been written to be much more complex overall (well this mainly applies to shigaraki, Dabi just got his backstory retconned to make enji look good) and have hints of a redemption or something that still says they have good in them. Like Iam still pissed that we didn't get much of Shigaraki consistency in general and when it comes to Dabi I would of enjoyed hori to give us Dabi in all of his complexity and I mean all of it.

Iam mainly pissed at Dabis ending because why I mean why would you revoke all of his autonomy and agency and leave him stuck all alone, slowly dying and being stuck with his abuser that wants to dance in hell with him but enji doesn't even understand what Dabi has been through in total.

I would of enjoyed more of spinner and shoji's dynamic and I honestly wanted more of spinner in general but dam hori did done and went and ruined him. Like I wanted to see spinner, wanted to see more of the discrimination plot line, wanted to see more of his thoughts on stain and how he would develop out of it/create his own thoughts of what a true hero is. I wanted more development when it came to him and shigaraki because all of it felt out of place in a way. Idk just wasted potential when it came to him.

Don't get me started about kurogiri Iam still sad about his death (it was cruel to just have him die that was just cruel there was so much potential with kurogiri that never got done right)

Honestly would of loved to know more about magne but I would of wanted her to die either way.

I think we should of gotten more of compress and his whole robin hood style. It's a shame I really wanted to see him do stuff like steal from the rich and give to the poor or simply give him more development then him being just there.

[doukeshi-kun]

Repetition at opening? Feeding me for real, babygirl. You know how to rizz me up ૮꒰ ྀི >⸝⸝⸝< ྀི꒱ა

The repetition of 'The sun....horizon' is so good. I absolutely adored how you framed his subtle coping mechanism, his grief settling in, and his fight or flight, how it started with denial instead of acceptance and sobbing; it adds in-character depth to Nikolai with his relationship to guilt/evasion of accountability/appeal to justification or rationalisation.

Red isn't my lucky colour -1. I'm in your walls. How dare you not be omnipotent/j

I LOVE THE MC SO MUCH; SHE'S SO ME-CORE, SO SULKY AND HUFFY, AH, but I'm smarter. IT'S ABOUT DRIVE; IT'S ABOUT POWER. I STAY HUNGRY, I DEVOUR. ᕙ( •̀ ᗜ •́ )ᕗ

Unlike other emotions correlating to the human biological essence, guilt is a choice, like happiness, sadness, anger, etc. It's taught and reinforced, which can be seen in pwaspd on the extremist side of the spectrum. Furthermore, our predecessors enacted prosocial behaviours, compassion and kindness to benefit a community, where guilt, in place of morality, is enforced to emphasise prosocial behaviour that was key to survival.

If it's taught, it's a choice. When someone learns apathy, it isn't escapism of guilt because, in its conceptual ideation, apathy exists alongside guilt about empathy, which guilt is invoked by; it's the opposite of guilt in a neutral stance. However, it's negatively viewed as it's not as reinforced as guilt as it de-emphasises prosocial behaviours. It balances guilt out, where it is an on-and-off switch. Therefore, guilt is a choice. What about you? ૮꒰ྀི ⸝⸝․․⸝⸝ ྀི꒱ა

(I was debating with my friend about it, then realised how much depth it had added to Nikolai's character that I didn't consider, how much of his guilty conscience heavily impacts his reasoning ability.)

Reader with separation anxiety is so real. Her fear of abandonment is constantly re-emphasised throughout the stories, subtle or bold. It's nice to see the consistency; it's 9/10... ☆૮꒰ˊᗜˋ* ꒱ა

NIKOLAI IS A WIMP AND SIMP RAHHH /ᐠ > ˕ <マ

intentional repetition my favourite MUAHAH 😎✨ i certainly love writing a grieving man who's often portrayed to be cheerful. exploring his 'human' side is fun (if asgr doesn't wanna write nikolai light novel, I WILL). and thank you for liking the reader tehee i think i had fun writing her the most. i will keep improving to make a likable mc (⁠ ͝⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ͡⁠°⁠)⁠ᕤ

now let's get into my smol essay of guilt. but! full disclaimer (for general reader of this shit essay): i'm fully aware of nuances. and i'm not good at articulating my thoughts sometimes.

i am heavily leaning to "guilt is not a choice" but that sentence alone is already bold, which is my mistake as i am lacking better words. i agree that guilt is enforced to emphasised prosocial behaviour. in fact, policymakers have been prompting guilt in order to promote good social behaviour (Heidlin, 2015). i think, emotions are the primordial essence in a human that needed an outlet—and reason—for it to come out, for we to feel. why are you happy? why are you sad? why are you angry? why are you guilty? it's a cause and effect. and i think, guilt is a special case because you can't control the causes of that feeling. it can happen anywhere. it can happen subconsciously.

as humans, as an individual, we will develop our moral codes and i believe moral conflicts (which i also believe will be inevitable if you are living in a social system) causes guilt—whether minute or consequential. but these guilt can still be reduced into just residue, as quoted from Greenspan 1983, "emotions can result from voluntary behaviour—such as the insistence on dwelling on certain facts; so we can often talk ourselves into feeling guilty, quite sincerely, when a clear-headed review of all the facts would convince us that we are not." perhaps religion is one of the main factors of feeling guilt, out of fear of disobeying god or the religious condition a person was subjected into. but i digress.

as we are holding onto our own morals, guilt is a (unwanted yet necessary) reaction to our own conscious and subconcious judgement. the choice lays on how we talk ourselves out of that feeling. like i said, the causes of guilt can be from anywhere anytime and it can get subconsciously triggered. but you can escape it, right? by justifying to yourself. however, a simple question can just loop you back—why do you want to escape that guilt?

maybe the way to not feeling guilty for every conflict you encounter is to be as selfish as possible. but i think individualism is some whack shit lol

[atopcat]

Ryan doesn't give us a reason to care about Luke, he has season 2 to make us care about Jace for when he dies in Season 3 (which I highly doubt) just like he doesn't give us a reason to care about helaena childrens when B&C happens, The general public who hasn't read the book will be like "who are these kids???"

All I can think about is how this is the only scene in the entirety of Game of Thrones where House Stark is together:

In less than two minutes the writers managed to show us a family:

Cat realising Arya's missing, quickly asking Sansa where she is

Sansa's disinterested shrug

Arya running to them with a helmet, making Robb and Jon laugh

Ned affectionately taking it off her

Catelyn beaming at her baby Rickon

Arya telling Bran to "move!"

Robb giving Joffrey the look when he realises Sansa's interested

We didn't get a sweeping statement of them declaring their love for one another, because it's in the little things that tell us all we need to know. Straight away the audience is told this family loves each other, they might be in a medieval fantasy but they're just like the audience sitting at home. The writers wrote ENOUGH to give us a reason to root for them for the rest of the season.

That's where House of the Dragon failed, they had so many opportunities to endear Team Black to the audience but alas they were wasted. I cared Luke died because I've read the books, but I get why the general audience weren't as emotionally invested. We just needed ONE family moment, a scene where Luke is holding Viserys, Jace dances with Baela, Rhaenyra gives Rhaena one of her old dresses to wear, Joffrey chases Aegon around Dragonstone etc. ONE scene where we can see the Blacks being a family, show us they love each other don't just tell us they do!

Same goes for Team Green, we only have one scene of Jaehaerys and Jaehaera but they were more or less in the background, the show didn't even tell us their names. None of the adults interact with them, Helaena just observes but she doesn't hold them, Alicent barely acknowledges their existence. Jaehaerys is going to die in the first episode of Season Two and as sad as it's going to be the writers haven't given us an actual reason as to why we should care. Do the general public even remember Aegon and Helaena have kids? Just like the Blacks the writers wasted valuable screentime because they prioritised shock value over character development.