#just good ol character analysis

[ryin-silverfish]

Heart and Mind: An Analysis of Tripitaka

I've been wanting to write this since…since I came across some good ol' Tripitaka discourse in the LMK fandom ages ago. Couldn't remember the specifics, but as y'all probably know, it falls under the "Is him an abusive master" and people's strongly worded retort to that question.

On one hand, I dislike the "abusive" take because so often, it is an excuse to reduce a character to an 2D caricature for cheap angst purposes, and both JTTW and its historical context deserve more nuances than that.

On the other hand, I don't agree with some of the defenses either——that Tripitaka is Kind and Wise and The Virtuous Monk, Actually, and people who said otherwise just had their views colored by adaptations, or were ignorant westerners misreading the book.

Because trust me, Chinese readers absolutely have gripes with Tripitaka too, and sass him mercilessly.

We may have a better idea of the historical context, namely, the common usage and acceptance of corporal punishments, but quite a few of us don't think he's a good Buddhist either.

Instead, I'd like to focus on his allegorical role, and how it ultimately forms the basis for my interpretation of his character.

It is commonly acknowledged that each pilgrim represent an aspect of the enlightenment seeker: Monkey is the Mind, Dragon Horse the Will, Pigsy the Desire, Sandy the Determination/Ideation.

Tripitaka is either the enlightenment seeker as a human, or the Heart, the Compassion.

But how can someone represent Compassion when his behaviors don't look all that compassionate, when he seems to care more about what a good Buddhist looks like on paper than in spirit?

How can a compassionate man punish his disciple with a migraine spell and disown him twice, be okay with some violence but not others?

Well, to answer that question, I feel like you have to look at Tripitaka in conjunction with SWK, and what the monkey represents. He is literally the Mind Monkey, the boundless potential of human intellect, and that, by itself, is neutral.

In the word of one of the best poems in JTTW:

"He could be good; he could be bad; present good and evil he could do at will. He'd be an immortal, a Buddha, if he's good; wickedness would cloak him with hair and horn."

To put it simply, SWK is one's wits, one's problem-solving skills, the ability to discern good and evil on a cognitive level.

Whenever Tripitaka, the Compassion, is deceived, it falls to the Mind to see the opponents as they are, and take action to protect the human from harm.

But just as blind compassion without judgement can be exploited by evil, the reverse is true for a mind without compassion, driven solely by their own ambition and whims and practical knowledge.

The Mind knows that robbery is a crime, so these robbers deserve death, but has no idea how disturbing it is for a regular guy to witness six people being brutally murdered in front of him.

The Mind knows that abandoning your wife and family to become a bandit is shameful and unfilial, but cannot comprehend why the bandit's father may not want his son killed for these offenses.

The Mind knows right and wrong, but has trouble seeing the human behind those acts, and why one should care in the first place.

And to see what the Mind looks like without any of Compassion's restraint, one needs to look no further than SWK's "Second Mind", the Six-eared Macaque.

Just like how "Heart" sounds like a lame power for a character, Compassion isn't flashy, nor as useful in a strictly ultilitarian sense. In fact, having compassion makes you vulnerable. It hurts. And unscrupulous people will absolutely use it against you.

So why hold onto your weakness and wallow in it? The world doesn't need another sanctimonious wuss, it needs strong, clever people making hard sacrifices, ruthless, logical decisions! Tough up! Stop caring, and you'll never be hurt again!

Much like a certain crowd who think basic human decency is somehow political propaganda, perhaps, when SEM struck Tripitaka, he was trying to do the same thing.

Kill the embodiment of compassion, the sniveling, useless, fragile human that keeps holding SWK back. Replace him as the true Mind, the one strong enough to break all bonds and seize glory with his own two hands.

But without compassion, without humanity, one is no longer a whole person, and cannot reach enlightenment. In fact, just like how Buddha would only give the True Scripture to Tripitaka, if you are not brave enough to make yourself vulnerable, to suffer and feel other's suffering, you will never transcend it.

At best, you can have some pale imitations of the parts you have willingly shut out from yourself.

And that's what SEM does. He thought he could do it on his own, singlehandedly replace SWK and reap the benefits of enlightenment, but he is no Monkey Awakened to Emptiness.

He is just empty; cut off desires because it is base, cut off determined ideation because it is foolish, cut off compassion because it is weak, cut off the altruism and curiosity and creativity from the mind, and you are left with a grand total of NOTHING.

A shadow of a self, desperately clinging onto external validation and stolen stories, reading the pilgrim's travel paperwork out loud as if that would actually make the journey his.

Tripitaka needs to trust SWK and learn from him, because compassion, much like good intention, doesn't solve problems on its own, and mercy is not the same as enabling harm.

SWK needs his master's guidance, because even at his most selfish and impulsive, he cares, and only by extending that care to others and accepting the vulnerability that comes with it can he truly mature and become awakened to the ultimate truth.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

One last bit of ramble: I feel like there is something to be said about Tripitaka's tendency to trust Pigsy, and how the pursuit of enlightenment is often derailed by worldly desires.

Unlike the demons they encountered, however, Pigsy is not the personification of mental obstacles that must be destroyed, because you cannot destroy bodily needs, nor the very human tendencies to slack off and avoid trouble.

You should stop listening to its advice, sure. Poke fun at it, absolutely. But what Pigsy represents is part of the human condition, just like every other pilgrim, and also something one must make peace with.

[novantinuum]

Pink Onyx AU- An Analysis and Theory Post, Part 1

[Part 1- You are here!] | [Part 2] | [Part 3] | [Part 4] | [Part 5]

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Howdy! Those of you who have followed me for a while have probably been seeing my reblogs of the @pink-onyx-au comic made by @ceephorsshitshow. Well, today I wanna share with you something a little different than my usual SU meta… because today I’m gonna analyze this really cool fan work with the same level of seriousness as I do canon. (Like. Seriously. This first post alone is really, really long. I put most of it under a cut.)

This particular comic is a very special one for me to watch unfold, because it’s evident that a lot of deep care and attention to detail has been poured into its creation. There’s fascinating bits of expanded character development to chew into here, as well as plenty of mysteries and lingering questions for us readers to muse and theorize over. If you follow me for Steven Universe and haven’t read this AU yet I highly recommend you check it out. The most basic pitch is that it explores what a fusion between Steven and Jasper might look like, and does a LOT of deep-diving into the similarities and differences of both of those characters’ psyches.

Here’s the episode masterpost on tumblr.

And you can find it on Tapas, too! 

(Note: For the purposes of these posts, I was given permission by the comic artist to post screenshots of various pages where relevant in this discussion. For each frame used I will list the episode and page number for easy reference. Additionally, this post and all future ones on the topic will contain full spoilers for the comic thus far.)

Now with all that introductory stuff out of the way, here we go!

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So, on the final page of the most recent update, we get one hell of a visual plot bomb for Steven as ol’ Onyx unfuses:

(Episode 9: Page 22)

He’s now visually expressing remnants of his corruption, where before he was not.

And it’s this mysterious plot point in particular that got me wanting to analyze this comic more deeply in the first place. This is completely new for him in this story. Thus far, he’s never expressed any of these remnants when he’s just himself- not in the way Jasper does. So it made me wonder… how might this shift in his appearance play into the ultimate trajectory of the plot? How does Steven suddenly showcasing corruption scars integrate into the larger story that is being spun here about him and Jasper and how they relate to each other?

Well, there’s a lot of comic details and story lore we need to unpack first before I can take my best theorizer’s stab at this. Let’s dig right in.

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Prelude: The analyst’s treasure is in the speech bubbles

Anyone who’s been a fan of this comic for a while has probably noticed these fun visual details already, but I’m going to take a moment to break down what I believe each speech bubble style signifies for folks who may not have context. It’ll make some of my analysis later a bit easier, too, ahah.

So. Speech bubbles. What kinds do we have here? 

(Episode 1: Page 6)

Style number one: Solid with black text

This style is standard for non-fused characters, and is also utilized when a fused character is speaking whilst in a state of internal harmony.

Steven is pink and Jasper is orange, of course. Onyx’s speech bubbles are a distinct darker pink, and the main three Crystal Gems get their own colors as well. More minor characters get white bubbles.

(Episode 1: Page 10)

Style number two: Scribbly pink lettering overlaying black text

Whenever you see this type of speech bubble, it’s a sign that there is some level of internal discord going on within Steven or Onyx that is related to their diamond side. It usually shows up when one of the two is in pink mode, but from what I can tell this is not a solid rule.

(Episode 2: Page 12)

Style number three: Pink/orange mixed bubbles

This is how we see Onyx talking for a good portion of the early comic. Their speech bubbles are a clean mix of Steven’s pink and Jasper’s orange. And most vitally, the color on the top and the tail signifies which of them is “fronting” at that moment.

(Episode 3: Page 11)

Style number four: White bubble with solid pink text

So far, this style has only been used to represent dialogue that is being spoken by Steven’s gem half exclusively. Which makes things very interesting, as in Steven’s own remembrances of shattering Jasper on the very first page of the comic, the line “I have been holding back!” is shown in this specific style, instead of the scribbly pink lettering that signifies internal discord.

There is one additional sub-style here- and this is the one moment where we get Onyx’s mixed bubble but WITH the solid pink text. 

(Episode 3: Page 11)

I believe these two styles pretty much mean the same thing… only, the white/pink text is either viewed within memory or a metaphoric fusion mindscape where we the viewer are actually “seeing” Steven’s instability, and thus can “see” his gem half as a separate entity there. While, in reality, this is an argument Onyx is having with the disparate pieces of themself.

(Episode 4: Page 9)

Style number five: Pink/orange tye-dye mixed bubbles

When you see that darker shade of pink start dappling into the standard mixed bubbles, this indicates that there are small whispers of Onyx’s true personality beginning to surface, instead of them constantly being wrested back and forth between Steven and Jasper’s conscious control.

(Episode 4: Page 16)

Style number six: Pink/orange mixed bubbles, but with a darker pink tail

From this page onwards, Onyx’s speech bubbles always have their darker pink shading the tail no matter who is fronting. Sometimes there are little lines of another color etched out of it, and sometimes the tail is solid dark pink. I like to believe that when it’s solid, it means that Onyx is just a little closer to reaching a fully harmonious state than when it’s not.

(Episode 9: Page 6)

Style number seven: Onyx speech/thought bubbles with a hint of pink/orange underlying

This style seems to signify moments where it’s still Onyx fully in control of themself and their actions/words/thoughts, but they’re taking subtle influence from their components or accessing their memory a bit.

These are all of the distinct styles I have caught so far, but quite honestly, it would not surprise me if I am missing something. All of this to say… pay close attention to the speech bubbles. They can tell you a lot about Onyx’s state of mind throughout the story.

Now with all this established, I’d like to finish off this first post with my first big discussion point.

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Question One: What does Jasper actually know about Steven’s “meltdown,” if anything?

The AU author recently solidified this comic’s placement in the SUF timeline in an ask response, saying that the first episode takes place just a week after Steven’s corruption event.

I’m glad this point was clarified, because it was super vital information which deeply influenced the way I analyzed Steven’s actions and responses in my recent re-read… it means this experience is still super raw for him. This is VERY important and we’ll get back to this in more depth later in future posts. But first, let’s explore what Jasper knows of this event.

The full extent of her knowledge is unclear-

(Episode 1: Page 6)

In Episode 1, Steven briefly alludes to his corruption as seen above… referring to it as “[his] meltdown.” Notably, Jasper does not seem to ask any questions about this stray comment. This COULD suggest that she knows what happened to him a week prior via hearsay, but given the context of the rest of the scene and the fact that she’s as isolated as she is out here I genuinely wonder if she thinks Steven’s so-described “meltdown” is his shattering of her.

This idea would make a good deal of sense, as she doesn’t start to make any commentary on the topic of corruption at all until they’re actually fused- with Steven bringing it up first.

(Episode 2: Page 14)

On this page, Steven takes note of Onyx’s very visible spikes (which are Overtly in the same placement as his own when he was corrupted), and initiates the musing upon his own corruption himself.

With the way Jasper phrases her response, the vibe I get is that she somehow gleans a bit of ambient shared knowledge about what happened to him through their fusion.

(Episode 2: Page 15) 

“That human form you wear must have been hiding your markings.” This quote is SUPER vital. We’ll come back to this later on in this post series, too.

(Episode 2: Page 15)

It’s clear that Jasper doesn’t REALLY understand what he went through or what caused it, since she then outright mistakes the casual woes and body pains of organic life as corruption. (As seen above.) 

(Episode 8: Page 4)

But later on, she outright relates to him over their shared experience of past corruption, so she must at least know enough from mere ambient thought-sharing by this point to recognize it happened.  

It’s obvious that she’s barely scratched the surface on fully understanding her fusion partner, though. Neither of them have. It’s gonna take a lot of fusion, comedic mishaps, and genuine conversation to get there. All in good time, I’m sure.

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Please do join me tomorrow at 7am PST for the next post in this series! This has been a blast to write up and muse upon.

[theoretically-questionable]

really enjoying this KSBD arc with Solomon David. Abaddon is so comfortable in being consistent with characters, and it shows!

At every point we've seen him, good ol' SD exerted control. He shouted the meeting of the demiurges to order; he lambasted his progeny for not meeting his requirements; he stepped in to take over from his workers; he never actually expected anyone to ever be able to take control from him.

It's more than this, though. In the latest update, we get this line directed at him: "In your great foolishness, you have never thought to take a student".

Everything Solomon did involved his direct control - that's not exactly groundbreaking analysis, his control-freak tendencies and inability to cede power is his blatant textual flaw. No, the part of this that's been so consistently illustrated is that he doesn't know how to nurture.

He's a dogshit teacher, we've just seen that in this last arc. But him stepping in to take the burden from his workers building a structure wasn't a sign of magnanimity; it was a testament to his failure to *build a society* where dangerous and physically harmful labour wasn't a norm.

Him refusing to name any of his progeny as his heir wasn't because they were somehow all slack or idle; it's a sign that he has no idea how to actually raise children, much less successors.

He spent so much time being failed by the authority figures and structures around him, and he never learned how essential the path of guidance and succession is to *any* relationship, including that between a leader and those they lead.

Here, he's learning two lessons at once: One, that the wheel turns, and control is an illusion. Two, that the only way what you have built will endure is if you ensure it can be maintained by another.

[picaroroboto]

I am struck by the sudden and intense urge to do a full analysis on the elements of anti-facism in FF14, but I don't really want to sit down and write a big ol' essay right now. But you do understand what I mean when I say it's not anti-facist just because the Garlean Empire, inspired by real-life facism, is a major antagonist you fight against - in fact, the story gains a lot when the Empire is not treated like an evil boogeyman. Showing depth and variety in Garlean characters, from the likes of Gaius, who wholeheartedly believes that Garlemald has to conquer the world to save it from itself, to people like Valens and arguably Zenos who use their power to satisfy their own desires, to ordinary people like Jullus who just go along with the ideas they were born into; giving them depth makes them more interesting to engage with as players and readers while also reminding us that facism isn't like, some sort of evil curse, it's a belief system (albeit a dangerous, cruel, illogical one) that is held by people - by humans who treat other humans as inhuman.

But FF14's biggest strength as an anti-facist story comes from the conflict with the Ancients - it's not a coincidence that Emet-Selch, leader of the Ascians, is also the founder of the facist Garlean Empire. This idea of returning to an idealized past (when not only is this process impossible, the past was never as good as anyone remembers it, or was only good for a minority of people) comes up a lot in facist ideology. Endwalker tears this down by not only hammering in Shadowbringers' thesis that you can never return to the past, it also shows us how the Ancient world was never really as perfect as Emet remembered it, thus strengthening our resolve to embrace the present.

Also, I'm no political scholar, but it seems to me that a lot of right-wing beliefs stem from a deep distrust of other people - for example, they might oppose police or justice reform because they genuinely think that fear of punishment is the only thing that keeps others from harming them. The importance of trusting others is a strong theme in FF14: the problems with the Beast Tribes and their Primals only begins to be solved when they turn from over-relying on their gods to trusting their fellow sentient beings instead. And, in the post-patches of every expac, the WoL helps the nations they've saved get back on their feet in a way that makes certain they'll stay stable when the WoL leaves for their next adventure - this is a system of trust too, showing that they trust the people they protect to solve their own problems from time to time.

I just think the way that FF14 doesn't just portray facists as stock enemies, but attacks the ideas that serve as the core of their beliefs, is really well done. *Note: while I discuss the resemblance between the Garlean Empire and real-life facism, I also understand that FF14 is fiction. I am not criticizing the writers for allowing Garlean characters to be sympathetic, nor am I attacking anyone for liking those characters.

[xerith-42]

Why Blaze is MyStreet's Most Failed Character

Blame the big bang discord for this post, I wasn't gonna write it until those fucks encouraged me.

Anyways here's an entire essay about why Blaze is the most wasted character in the entirety of MyStreet and I will literally fight Jessica and Jason Bravura with my bare hands.

To get us started on our harrowing tale of wasted potential and the best improviser Jessica ever hired, we need to go back a little. Back to Phoenix Drop High Season 2. We won't stay here long, I promise, I hate it more than you can possibly know. But the single saving grace of this absolute mess of a season is ya boi, Blaze. Introduced in the 18th episode of the season, airing on April 12, 2017, with the airing of Phoenix Drop High Season 2 Episode 18, Blaze was a character who started his brief tenure series with a bang!

Literally dude showed up and the first thing he ever did on screen as a character in a piece of media we can engage with is throw someone out of a window. We do not know this mans name yet and he's already left a lasting impression. Sure throwing people out of a window is common in werewolf culture, which I don't care what you say that's objectively funny, but it is bold to start a characters entire introduction with that. Blaze comes out of the gate swinging before he's said a single line.

And then after introducing himself he throws a dead bird at Aphmau to show off his hunting skills?? Okay so he's just that fucking weird and overly enthusiastic about things I guess! That's amazing! MyStreet always shines when it just lets it's characters be fucking weird without making a big deal out of it or talking them down for it. Dottie even says that it's romantic which is again just a great showing of Blaze's enthusiasm and lack of what might appear to be common social decorum because of said enthusiasm.

This is all punctuated and brought to a hilarious breaking point when Blaze's final showing of why he should be the new top dog at his school is when the crazy mother fucker rips his shirt off to literally flex about how he's one of the hottest guys in the school. And I'm going to be real with you, given Blaze's later characterization as a himbo, I'm pretty sure he doesn't actually care about this. He just says it because he thinks it'll boost his chances. Blaze is later shown to be a character willing to throw away his reputation for the things he cares about, but he does get a rather sincere moment with Aphmau, even if she's blushing the entire time.

It shows that Blaze is not only physically affectionate, but also weirdly comfortable with his shirt off. Because this is purely objective character analysis I will not be shoving my Blaze is autistic and has sensory problems with things touching his chest propaganda down your throats, but now that I've mentioned it once you won't stop thinking about it when this comes up.

The show admittedly fumbles the bag a little by having Blaze say in his internal monologue that he thinks Aphmau is cute and acts kind of like a tsundere, but this is Jesson writing so there's always bound to be a bit of That Shit. But in spite of that, Blaze is a character who has an instant impression that leaves a lot of room for comedy potential, and just good ol' fashion silliness. And while the werewolf plot of Season 2 is... bad, Blaze and the Werewolf Pups are stand out characters in the sense that their characterization leaves a lot of potential if they're in a different, better written story.

And even if the arc is bad, Blaze still is a quality part of it. His shallow but hilarious initial characterization gets built on in some really solid ways. Namely in how he acts as a force for good in Aphmau's life even if she doesn't realize or give him permission to do it. This entire season is about how the different men in Aphmau's life handle helping her in a crisis, and funnily enough, in a season centered around Aaron literally overthrowing Aphmau's new love interest, Blaze is the one who was consistently doing what was best for Aphmau.

Aaron fumbles the ball more than a few times, Ein is shown to be actively malicious, and Kai gets hate crimed. But Blaze, who's barely even a contender in this ship war, is constantly working to actually make things better while everyone else is pulling Aphmau away from what actively matters about her position. While Ein is manipulating her and Aaron is trying to prove that, Blaze throws caution to the wind and just does what he thinks is best to restore order.

But more important than that end conclusion is his true goal of standing up for Daniel. A wolf it is established he barely knew before this year, that Blaze is willing to throw his reputation and standing in a bull shit hierarchy because he's seeing how this hierarchy is hurting someone who doesn't deserve it. Blaze is the one who is baring his fangs and willing to throw hands when Daniel cowers away from bullies. By the end of the season Blaze has been given adequate screen time to not only show off his fun and maybe a tad out of touch side, but he's been given a real level of sincerity that's tied into the things he's enthusiastic about. He loves being a werewolf, and he extends that love to all the werewolves around him, until they start being dicks to other werewolves who are literally just sitting there.

At the center of Blaze is that inherent goofiness though. He's always cracking jokes, or the joke when he's on screen, and in a series that was originally pitched as a light hearted slice of life comedy in contrast to MCD's general misery, that sort of character is needed to keep the tone. Such is show in episode 22 when Blaze is reading a book on the Scientific Method to just learn more about science, but realizes the book is upside down.

But he actually understood it enough to properly apply the scientific method to this situation?? Iconic. It's played off as a joke of Blaze exploiting a loophole to get out of class, but even that's pretty smart honestly. Blaze may be a dumb ass but he's always willing to cheat an unfair system.

Episode 22 is basically a Blaze centric episode, which I did not expect, but now that I'm rewatching it for this post it might be the reason I love this character so dearly. It's not only the episode where Blaze manages to learn the Scientific Method upside down, but also stands up for Daniel in a really substantial way. Blaze is loud, enthusiastic, and strong, all traits that are celebrated by werewolf culture, and whether he realizes it or not, him just being around Daniel can do a lot to get bullies to back off. Everyone has seen Blaze toss a mother fucker through a window, they do not want to be on the receiving end of that.

He spends the rest of the episode trying to figure out what Ein's deal is when he hears that Ein went behind Aphmau's back on werewolf matters, landing Daniel in this situation. He hears Ein actively plotting against Daniel, but that is normal werewolf behavior. He concludes that he'll keep an eye on Ein. And this through line of "normal werewolf behavior" informs a lot of Blaze's decisions once he comes to the conclusion that Ein sucks and deserves to be undermined. He resorts to letting his actions speak louder than words and goes to violence after realizing that the wolves aren't listening to reason, they're listening to instinct.

He fights fire with fire, and while Aphmau might not approve, it's more effective than her soft rhetoric has been in getting people to be less of jackasses. This eventually lands him in hot water where he steps in for Daniel after Ein tries to get his goons to beat him up, and even if Blaze is fighting in a five v one, he still goes down swinging. And I'll say it, I think it's sweet that he calls Aaron after this happens. While it's clearly meant to be a thing of Blaze calling the last alpha because he's probably the only person who anyone will listen to, there's an important detail I think is easily overlooked.

He has Aaron's number.

He says he got it from the werewolf pups, but that means that Blaze went out of his way to make sure he could contact Aaron. He's the reason that Aaron even realizes Ein is playing all of them. Blaze is the catalyst for his undoing because unlike Aaron who's nearly imprisoned, heartbroken, and been hesitant to act in the plot as a result, Blaze doesn't actually care that much if Aphmau currently likes him because he's more worried about her physical and mental well being than whether she wants to kiss him or someone else.

How many Aphmau love interests can say that?

Can any of them say that?

Blaze can.

Blaze actually consistently shows a level of selflessness that's unfitting of how I've seen some people characterize him. He gives up his real chance to be Alpha because Daniel is so compassionate and earnest and genuinely deserves it. Blaze wants to believe in a future lead by people like Daniel and Aphmau where he might not have to keep fighting people to keep things sane. Blaze constantly gives up his pride, his power, his safety just to make sure that his friends are taken care of, or to effect real change in a school he's about to leave.

It wouldn't be long after Phoenix Drop High Season 2 ended that Blaze would make his debut in the main series My Street in the second episode of Season 5, airing only a few days after the end of Phoenix Drop High Season 2. Just like before he really shows up with a bang, literally throwing himself through the air between Lucinda and Kim just to catch a frisbee because Blaze is the most extra mother fucker ever, and then immediately proceeds to flirt with them. Iconic as ever. Short but sweet.

It's in episode 3 that it's revealed that Blaze and the werewolf pups kept Aaron company during his rehabilitation year. But from the way it's worded it sounds like Blaze was called in before anyone else by Aaron's parents. Based on the way they talked and actively planned together before, I wouldn't be surprised if Blaze was the first person who came to his mind when Aaron thought of a werewolf friend.

I think Aaron reached out to Blaze when he needed it.

And even though I've previously stated that I don't think Aaron's parents initially liked Blaze because by this era he's old enough to fully take on his persona as the cool stoner friend who's also a little insane in the most charming way possible, he has a good impact on Aaron. Aaron likes being around him, and maybe they smoke weed to help Aaron relieve some of the lasting pain when no one's looking.

Regardless of his methods, Blaze does an ultimate good in Aaron's life as a result of being there for him when he needed it. So much so that he was invited out to Starlight and is shown to be one of Aaron's main pillars of support. We are given scarcely little of this actual friendship, which is where the problem lies. While before Blaze was a surprisingly engaging part of an other wise terrible story, at least in season 5 the story is a lot slower and character focused. And Blaze can work in these moments, we saw him have real moments of sincerity before.

He gets some of it, but the issue is that Blaze isn't allowed to be alone anymore. The cast of MyStreet is huge, and Blaze is a character who is making his second major appearance, while some characters in the cast have been present since literally episode one. It's hard to justify giving him solo screen time when he's been in the series for such little time and we barely have enough time for certain significant characters to really have arcs (Lucinda). Most of Blaze's scenes are scenes with at least four other characters on screen, he's never allowed screen time without at least two other werewolf characters attached to him.

I don't object to Blaze hanging out with his friends, or even making new ones though out the season but... Would it kill the writers to let him have a scene with Aaron? Like. A single scene. Where it's just Blaze and Aaron. I mean just Blaze and Aaron without Aphmau there. They've done this before. They did it in the season Blaze showed up in. Just one scene where the two of them get to talk about literally anything would do so much. Even if they talk about Aphmau, it's better than nothing. It would strengthen both of their characters so much to be able to get a scene where they talk to each other not as conspirators who kinda know each other, but as real friends supporting one another.

Show that even though Blaze said Daniel was more compassionate than he was, Blaze still is a compassionate and even empathetic person. Show why Aaron was grateful to have him during his recovery. They have those scenes of Aaron at physical therapy, right? Why not have Blaze take him one time and just show how they interact then? The possibilities with this unrealized idea are endless, and that's genuinely upsetting. Opportunities like this present themselves every time Blaze makes an appearance, they even tease me by giving me scenes where Aaron is alone with a character he has little to no connection with, Maria.

Maria was a foil for Aphmau. And Ein was a foil for Aaron. And Blaze was a foil for Ein. There is no reason for Maria to really have a rapor that matters with Aaron. He doesn't really know her that well, she's clearly a friend by association, and it seems like an odd thing to focus on when Blaze is LITERALLY RIGHT THERE IN THE BACKGROUND OF THIS SCENE.

Why won't they let Blaze talk to Aaron? It's so infuriating. The closest we get is in episode 7 when Blaze attempts to calm down Aaron, but he's shown to be ineffective and it comes down to, of course, Aphmau being the one to talk him down. I swear to Hatsune the writers are making fun of me at this point. They're going "Oooooh you want Blaze to be an actually helpful and supportive figure in Aaron's life soooo bad." AND I DO!

I'm serious when I say the show is teasing me. I've been skimming through Season 5 and only watching the episodes when Blaze is on screen, and so far he has never been in a scene with less than 4 people in it. Never. And even in scenes where he gets to be at least a focal point, he's always limited because he has to share that moment in the spotlight with FOUR OTHER CHARACTERS.

Episode 14 is a great example of this. When the werewolf gang gets told they aren't allowed to eat at a restaurant because they're werewolves, Blaze makes it abundantly obvious that he's put up with this before and really doesn't feel like being hate crimed on his vacation. And he knows that actions speak louder than words and therefore joins Maria in saying they should "teach this establishment a lesson." Personally I think Blaze would've just thrown the manager through a window only to realize it's an outdoor establishment and throw him into the ocean. Which would be objectively funny and deserved because that owner was being cringe and racist.

I love the conversation that happens because it shows the unique way that Aaron sees things from passing as a human for most of his life. This has never happened, but he knows that further acts of violence as a result will only make it happen again. This is a great scene for Aaron. Not really good for Blaze, and the next scene makes him worse. I love the detail that Blaze is an instinctual person more than a planner, but it feels wrong that he doesn't even let Aaron consider planning. I know he wants Aaron to be more spontaneous but he should have more awareness of his friend and his habits and be able to accommodate it, not talk over it.

But it's Jesson, so misunderstanding even their simplest character is par for the course. At least episode 15 gives me Garroth and Blaze talking in the background, and I'm starved for good Blaze content, so I was eating this shit up. The problem with watching MyStreet this way is that Blaze... Just doesn't get a lot of moments... At all. There are some episodes where he doesn't even speak at all, and when he does get to talk in episodes, he gets a few lines in one giant ensemble scene.

I don't object to a show having an ensemble cast, or even a lot of characters with a few central ones, but it really is a detriment to the show that Aaron never gets a scene alone with any werewolf he isn't related to. Nana gets to talk to Blaze when she's having a crisis of her relationship history and experience, but it's just so Blaze can tell her the opposite of what she wants to hear. It's not a scene that feels like it was written for Blaze, because it wasn't. It was written for Nana.

And before some jack ass says it "Blaze is a side character he's not supposed to get a lot of focus" and I'm not asking for a lot. I watched every scene he's in in PDH to prove that it works

BECAUSE IT DID.

Blaze showed up officially in episode 18 out of 30, and he wasn't in every episode after his introduction. But the writers gave him a solid introduction, one good episode that spent most of its run time with him, and really good moments throughout the rest of his time in the series. All I'm asking is that Season 5 at least give me one of those things. Either a good episode where he and his relationship with Aaron is brought into focus, even if it's used as a vector to study Aaron's character, or just more sincere moments for him.

It feels like Blaze is a joke character now when he previously made it very clear he's far more than that.

And then they just forget about him. During the first part of the 3 part finale Blaze is there. He's the one who got everyone to gather at the docks because an mf wants to eat some scrumptious food. But when Aaron sees Ein and starts freaking out, Blaze is literally just not in the scene. At all. Not even as like a throwaway of someone who could've helped but failed, he just is not in the scene at all. It legitimately feels like the writers forgot about him entirely.

Blaze the minute the plot shows up:

He's there after Garroth gets turned and was apparently at Garroth's bedside trying to calm him down which I will be thinking about. A lot. I'll be thinking about how we deserved to see or at least hear some of it, about how the writers continue to tease me with an interesting scene that involves my favorite little fucker, about how heartbreaking it would have been to see Blaze and Melissa try to calm Garroth only for him to scream in pain and try to push them away only to reveal that Zane and Nana are able to hear the entire ordeal downstairs and Zane is panicking when he hears his brother screaming in pain. Just thinking about what we could've had if the writers actually cared about any of these characters.

And then after that he dies.

I'm not watching any of When Angels Fall because I know what's good for my health. I know what happens in Season 6 Episode 9 and that's all I need to know. It doesn't matter if the writers may have finally given Blaze an emotional scene, it doesn't matter if they finally gave him even a hint of character development, it doesn't matter if he made a connection in a real way. Because no matter what he did the result is the same. No matter what quality the writers might've pulled out of their ass, it would ultimately be in service of one end. From the start of this season these writers knew what they wanted to do. They wanted to up the stakes and add more drama to the show, and they wanted to do it by killing Blaze.

And I think I know why.

This is 100% a limited view, but I was on Aphmau Instagram at the time that this season was airing. And I ran a Blaze fan account. I talked to a lot of MyStreet fans during this time and I was constantly upset and disappointed that people didn't understand Blaze's character, or just didn't appreciate it as much as I do. Most people liked Blaze on a very surface level, or because he was attached to another character they liked. I found very few people who genuinely cared about him as an individual, probably because Blaze stopped getting scenes alone by the end of PDH, and because the Aphmau fandom (at the time) had more of a focus on shipping than character work and quality. Blaze was easily shippable with a number of characters, canonically shipped with Dottie a little, and had enough characterization that people cared about him, but not enough to get a large dedicated fanbase.

He was the perfect one to kill.

Enough people liked him because he was hard to hate, he was stapled onto Aaron's character with little regard for a story of his own, and his death could be eventually inconsequential. And it was! Blaze's method of dying is so bad it makes me physically angry!

I know the whole story for the last few seasons has been all about Forever Potions and turning people against each other, but just mind controlling Blaze and having him die while under mind control is such such a missed opportunity. There's been a disappointing lack of proper Aaron and Blaze friendship content, but they could have made up for it in this scene with just a few tweaks. Just have Blaze not be mind controlled at the end. He can still go on that rant about Aaron being the cause of all the bad that's happened, but then the words start to become... disjointed. Jilted. As if Blaze is struggling to say them because he knows that they're wrong. Aaron's his friend, there's no way he'd say that about him.

Have it break.

Have him look at his friend in a worse state than he's ever been in, and instead of approaching him with intent to harm, it's intent to heal. A final attempt at getting through to Aaron. And like the times before, it doesn't work. Aaron's angrier than ever and he isn't seeing or thinking straight thanks to Ein's bull shit. All he can see is an enemy in his way. Maybe he sees Blaze's eyes but Blaze's green eye is still Emerald Green, even if the control broke for a moment. Whatever reason, Aaron still attacks.

He doesn't realize that Blaze wasn't trying to hurt him until it's too late. Aaron's anger already ruined a friend's life, it already pulled all of them into the hell they're in, and now it's killed one of his best friends.

ONE CHANGE. THAT'S ALL IT TOOK. ONE SINGLE CHANGE TO MAKE BLAZE'S DEATH ACTUALLY MEAN SOMETHING.

Ideally I'd like it Blaze just didn't die at all, least of all before the finale, but if you're going to kill him off unceremoniously at least make it have some emotional weight. You've been neglecting him for an entire season and now you just kill him off? Just like that? Oh he gets to show up in heaven? How nice. Is it a scene where he gets to express regrets, remorse, or even give any insight into his feelings?

Of course it fucking isn't! Are you kidding me, that's not even close to what happens. I said i wouldn't watch When Angels Fall but

I LIED!!

I watched Blaze's death scene and his scene in heaven to make sure I knew well and good how badly they failed to kill off my favorite character! And man, the scene in heaven is just the worst! Blaze does a genuinely kind thing for Aphmau and decides to stay with her when she's alone because he doesn't want her to hurt. He saw how much pain Aaron was in without her. He just wants to fucking help her.

But Aphmau's too self absorbed to realize that and instead goes on a whole rant about how she always needs other people to take care of or protect her and how everyone else would be better off yadda yadda. What she doesn't realize and what Blaze eventually gets to tell her is that people were around her and took care of her because they just wanted to. Because she was nice to be around. And they never expected anything else, and never saw her as a burden.

And that's actually a really nice moment. Sort of. There's two major problems. First, Blaze gets cut off from telling Aphmau this at first because Irene has to go on a whole rant about Aphmau being selfish. And she is right in everything that she says, but it feels weird for Irene, who literally doesn't know her, to be making this judgement. This scene should have been Irene observing a conversation between Blaze and Aphmau were Blaze just tries to make her feel better.

And that would hopefully solve problem number two. Which is that what Blaze says is very genuine and heartfelt, but severely handicapped by the fact that he and Aphmau were only friends for a short period of time in High School, and an equally short period of time within the last few months. What Blaze says about why he likes being around her is true, but it would have a lot more weight if there was a chance for Blaze to have been around her as a friend more.

Fuck it, if you need Blaze to be on screen with at least two other characters, why was there never a scene of Blaze, Aaron and Aphmau just talking? Would a single scene of that fucking killed you? Just one scene would have made their friendships a lot more solid and therefore heartbreaking to lose when it gets torn apart.

Third problem, the scene ends with a focus on Irene. Blaze's words echo in her ears, and remind her of her friends. And I like that idea because I'm an absolute sucker for MCD, but it takes the scene away from the focus. This should be a scene about one of Aphmau's friends encouraging her to not give up even if it all seems lost. At least don't let her death be in vain by saying such awful things about her friends while they may be grieving. But Irene is brought into focus again because the show isn't about Blaze, or Aphmau apparently, I guess her Aphmau Main Character Powers overrides Aphmau's. She has more experience with them.

Blaze and Aphmau's very heartfelt dialogue is brought down by the fact that these two characters lives didn't intersect very directly out of high school. Through the course of Season 5 I never got the idea that Blaze was Aphmau's friend. Not to say they weren't friendly, I think Blaze adored her just as much as he did in high school, but as a viewer I was never shown that they cared particularly for one another. I believe that Blaze sincerely cared about her even after all this time, but that's not because of anything the writers did with him in these seasons. It's just because that's the kind of person Blaze is.

But their friendship not being strong really weakens the scene. This is a scene that I know for a fact worked as intended when I watched it as it was coming out. I was an overemotional mess of a 15 year old who hated how this series was going but kept watching it because it was almost over and I might as well get it done with. It pulled on my heartstrings and they sang and I cried. I cried a lot. This scene made me incredibly emotional, and it still got to me as an adult, but the devil is in the details.

Blaze and his arc might work on the surface. They work if you don't pay that close of attention to it. They work if you care more about the characters he's constantly around more than Blaze. And when I first watched Seasons 5&6, I still had a very deep attachment to a lot of these characters, especially Melissa, who he shares a lot of scenes with. So I felt... satisfied? I would've liked more, but I probably wouldn't have complained about what I got (his death scene not withstanding I always thought that was bad).

My my, how the times have changed.

If it wasn't obvious from the four thousand or so words you just read, Blaze is a rather unique case of these writers failing as writers. A rather unique case where the perfect character to fix a lot of problems with their show practically jumped up in the air waving his arms around and they still brushed past him to focus on a predetermined story he was shoved into. I don't think the writers ever really had a plan for where Blaze would go or what he would do.

A lot of Blaze's best character moments are when he isn't being written by Jesson. The reason I love the minigames so much is because there, Blaze's incredibly talented voice actor Jason Lord is actually really funny and pretty good at improv. Obviously some bits of the mini games are scripted, but a lot of them are just seeing how much voice actors can get into their characters, which he's fantastic at. A lot of Blaze's funniest moments come from this too, which is great when the writers turn him into a comedy character but the characters voice actor is funnier than they both are and is only a funny character when they don't have direct control of him. Lord is able to bring life to a character who may have been lacking it due to the simultaneously focused and unfocused way the series was written.

Blaze is proof of what happens when writers don't bother to develop their characters beyond the outline. The draft notes for PDH Season 2 said "there's going to be a wolf character who tries to become Alpha and instead stands up for Daniel when he's bullied." and then Blaze was born. The writers gave him some characterization as a treat to make the story work better, and then were done with it then and there. We fleshed him out enough, good character, time to put him in season 5 so people stop criticizing us for not giving Aaron enough friends.

But the problem wasn't a lack of quantity in friends, it was a lack of quality. It was a lack of scenes that let Aaron interact with other characters without Aphmau present. It was a lack of characters to point to that were real emotional connections Aaron had that weren't his last minute family or his girlfriend. It was a lack of attention given to the few characters that could've filled that role. Dante almost filled it in season 2, and Aaron and Garroth could have arguably become closer after everything in season 4, but at that point Aaron's entire arc became centered around Aphmau.

It was the fact that Blaze was one of the few people who ever directly reached out to Aaron and then was never given a scene alone again. It was because the writers wrote too many characters, tried to give the series a more direct focus, and then failed to account for the characters that were dragged along even if they didn't necessarily know what to do with them.

So when Season 6 came around and they decided to make the show super serious no really stop laughing, they needed characters to kill off to up the stakes. It's not like Blaze's character was going anywhere. It's not like they had a plan for him. Nothing was really being lost.

It's not like Blaze was one of the most sincere and dedicated characters in the series. It's not like he had one of the biggest potentials in regards to his relationship with Aphmau or Aaron. It's not like there was time spent proving that he could be a solid pillar of support in both of their lives even under dire circumstances. It's not like he was set up that way through individual scenes where he got to talk to each of them on a personal level. That definitely didn't happen.

TLDR: MyStreet peaked at season 2 and they fumbled the bag with the best chance to make it peak even higher and I'm forever bitter about it. Now get out of my house.

[o-sachi]

Blue Lock Top 5s because I'm bored

Top 5 I like based on narrative/writing

Top 5 I'd date

Kinda wildly different, idk u judge

All under the cut

Top 5 Based on the Story

1 | Michael Kaiser

Where do I even begin...

For starters, he has a really strong presence in the story and his introduction was hella good.

I have a thing for cocky characters who can walk the talk (we ignore the goals he missed because c'mon, HE IS STILL PART OF THE NEW GEN 11 !!! THAT SPEAKS FOR ITSELF)

But me liking him mostly has to do with his backstory. I resonate with him a lot—not that I experienced the same abusive childhood, but the feeling of wanting to be enough/to be loved really hits hard.

I am also a sucker for great characters who have to shed their skin or the ones who experience a fall from grace only to rise again. It's really inspiring and different in a way. I love to see them get humbled yk?

Also, I like that he had to work hard to be where he is today. The reason why I like him and Lorenzo is because they essentially stand out among the other blue lockers who came from better families/environments.

I just love him. He holds a special place in my heart. He needs to be protected at all times.

I know manipulation is wrong but it's kinda funny how this mf studied psychology for the most whack ass reason possible. Jeez.

2 | Isagi Yoichi

I have to say that I rarely end up liking the MC of most animanga that I read or watch. It's because they're usually so... plain. Like the squarely fall into one archetype and it gets boring. But not Isagi.

I LOVE how he's gentle and kind when off the field, but an absolute menace when he's actually playing football. It's interesting to see.

I like that he's somewhat an underdog. I say somewhat because he didn't start off as someone who knows nothing at all about football. Neither was he hindered by anything serious. Just a plain ol' underdog who happens to go against players that are naturally better than him.

Underdog stories in sports anime are my shit after all.

Redditors say that Isagi's puzzle shit analysis is cringy, but I actually like his analytical nature. It's one of the things I like the most about bllk tbh.

All the blue lockers love him and so do I. Simple as that.

3 | Reo Mikage

It took me a while to really really appreciate Reo.

I just find his character endearing because he truly works hard.

He's from a rich family who could give him anything he wants without him having to lift a finger, yet he tries so hard to prove himself and achieve something solely by himself.

It's just really admirable.

He has his moments, but I think Reo's overall a sweet and genuine person. I felt bad for him when Nagi set him aside.

Of course, Reo initially befriended Nagi for the purpose of playing football together and dominating the sport, BUT he put actual trust into their friendship.

4 | Bachira Meguru

MY OG

I think it's exclusive to sports animanga, but I really like the characters who are lowkey crazy. The moment he fucking kicked Igaguri in the face—I knew.

Super fun to watch.

I like how his backstory is a completely different atmosphere compared to what kind of person he is on the surface. Of course, he probably still has some scars from the past, but that's what I think makes him a good character.

Like Reo, I think he's a genuine person. Sure, he's ready to throw hands anytime, but I can see that he really values certain people in bllk, whether as a friend or someone who pushes him to do better.

GIVE US MORE BACHIRA PLS

5 | Shidou Ryusei

Crazy motherfucker. I DIG THAT.

He's a bit weird, perverted, all over the place—but I like it. A refreshing sight.

Like I know the "crazy" character isn't new, especially to sports anime. But unlike those before him, I think he genuinely enjoys football more so than dominating others.

Sure, he loves to win. But there's a difference between engaging in a sport to make others submit to you and to defeat others fair and square.

Kind of mysterious and I like that. He could climb up the ranks depending on what backstory Kaneshiro san cooks up.

Top 5 That I'd Date

1 | Karasu Tabito

There's something about guys from the countryside that HIT DIFFERENT. Personally, I'm not from a city either, so I guess I'm not that into city boys or the really posh kind of guys.

THE ACCENT

I like guys who are more simple and down to earth, but still have personality. He's so cute and playful, but he's still a simple lil guy.

I like guys who enjoys playful banter w you and would tease u a bit 😗

He's tall, has dark hair, a cocky smirk. NEED I SAY MORE?

We're both scared of water so when we go to the beach or the pool we could just chill together instead.

I find it really endearing about his character that he refuses to tell people about the last time he cried. 'Cuz obviously, a lot of men are probably embarrassed about admitting that which should be changed. I JUST WANT TO GIVE HIM A BIG HUG.

We have the same mole under the eye and our birthdays are 5 days apart. And I'm fucking delusional 😚

I just fw his personality a lot.

He could match my freak.

2 | Barou Shoei

I like mature guys. Periodt.

I love me a domestic guy. He likes cleaning, cooking, taking care of his siblings. Like??? WHAT ELSE COULD YOU ASK FOR?

I feel like I would get scolded a lot... joke's on him I'm into that.

I was kidding btw.

Idk, dude. Responsible men just turn me the fuck on 😓

I admire his work ethic and how seriously he takes his passion.

He's tall, beefy, always looks mad... and I dig that a lot.

What the fuck is that new hairstyle though.

3 | Yukimiya Kenyu

This is extra delusional because I would never get this green of a flag yk?

HE SEEMS SO SWEET AND KIND.

He also seems like the type who would be kind and understanding in the relationship, but would still take the lead.

Idk, tbh, I just chose him because he would be a good partner. Would we make a good pair? Not really.

4 | Noel Noa

I have daddy issues.

That's it.

No, but have you seen the recent art of him in a suit? GOOD LORD.

But actually he is my 4th choice. Don't come for me 😓

5 | I lied about the top 5 thing. There aren't enough characters of age to choose from (I wouldn't date Mihya or Sae. They're hot, I get that. Buttttttt I don't think I can actually handle them. I think I'd be too sensitive about how they treat me sob. And Aiku is a headache.)

[bizabumblebee]

tell us about yunobo

why's he ur funky lil guy

id love to hear why

This is a very good ask I don’t think I’ve ever actually told anyone why I like Yunobo so much

Preemptive spoiler alert for both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom by the way

(Also this turned into a bit of a character analysis on Yunobo I’m so sorry it’s so ridiculously long lmao)

Personally my favorite Zelda “race” or whatever has always been gorons, huge fellas who mine rocks and eat rocks and are rocks, just big ol walking boulders with kind souls, I think they’re very silly and cute. But I really like Yunobo because he’s not really like any of the other gorons (He’s not like other girls!!), because he’s so much more… emotional? I guess? In each of the Goron race’s appearances throughout the Zelda games they’re portrayed pretty much the same way, either tough and brave and heroic (Like Darunia, Daruk and Darmani), or chill and generally nonchalant (Like… pretty much every other goron). Though they are kind and playful, they’re also tough and unmoving as stone. Yunobo (on a surface level), is neither of these things. When you first meet him in BotW he runs and yelps in fear, and a great portion of the fan base calls him a coward because of this. He’s very unsure of himself, and unsure of a lot of things in general. In the artbook “Creating a Champion”, his description is as follows:

“Yunobo is the grandchild of the Champion Daruk. He has an adult body but still has some growing up to do. He is easily frightened by monsters and isn't exactly what one might call brave, but, driven by thoughts of protecting his people, he gathers enough courage to aid Link in quelling the Divine Beast Vah Rudania. He is earnest and naive, readily believing nearly anything anyone tells him.”

So yeah. He’s a scaredy-cat. He’s a pushover. He’s incredibly naive and a bit childish.

AND YET.

He helped save his people, and the entirety of Hyrule… TWICE. Because he is brave. Bravery is not an immediate heroic desire to face any danger for the sake of the greater good.

It is action in spite of fear.

He is afraid. He’s unsure, and he’s flighty, and he’s defensive. But he swallows these fears and chooses to act in spite of them, helping link to take back control of Vah Rudania, and saving his people. For me, seeing the journey Yunobo takes to find his courage is a lot more satisfying than if he were just already a brave go-getter from the moment you meet him.

And then things get even more interesting in the second game (again, spoilers for TotK ahead).

After he helps Link take back Vah Rudania and Calamity Ganon is defeated, Yunobo goes right to helping his people recover from the the post-calamity craziness. He’s incredibly devoted to them. He’s a helper through and through, willing to do anything it takes for the sake of others. His loyalty knows absolutely no bounds. But unfortunately, this can get the better of him.

Like when his good friend “Zelda” shows up and gives him some weird mask and tells him to put it on.

Honestly, when I saw Yunobo for the first time in TotK, I was one of the many people who was terrified that Nintendo might have made him an asshole for no reason. I mean, they gave Sidon a wife so people would stop shipping him with Link, I wouldn’t put it past them (totally backfired though lol, now they’re just a polycule).

But instead they had actually put him into one of my favorite character tropes: self-conscious but good-natured character easily susceptible to corruption (See: Luigi [SPM], Bolin [TLoK], Locksley [AS:TNC] -they’re all also green for some reason? Crazy). I really like this particular trope because it shows the very real (and frankly scary) way that those with the best intentions can most easily be led astray. As someone who’s kinda struggled with having a people-pleaser personality (incredibly susceptible to peer-pressure, neglecting my own needs over the needs of others, not able to set boundaries, etc), this trope is a relatable cautionary tale for me. Those who just want to help more often than not end up helping those with bad intentions without realizing.

Buuuuut I won’t go too far into all that (it’ll get sad fast eugh)

My main point is that Yunobo is brave, kind, and loyal (even to a fault), and for me that’s a wonderful formula for a character as nervous and dopey as him. Yeah he’s got rocks for brains, but he’s got a heart as big as a lynel’s. I don’t throw this term around liberally but I would say he could definitely count as a himbo.

Ugggghhh this is getting too long ffs. I’ll just list a couple more reasons why he’s important to me specifically.

He is… very large. Ahem. I like big fellas. You know how it is. ANYWAY

He’s a bit dopey but he’s definitely not incompetent. He’s the president of a highly successful mining company and he’s helped save Goron City (and the entirety of Hyrule) TWICE. That’s pretty cool. I’ve seen a lot of people shit on him in the first game for “always getting spotted by the drones” but like. Dude that’s your fault. He told you he would come when called and stop when told to, it’s on you if he walks into a searchlight.

He’s got very intriguing lore (to me at least), that leaves a lot of room for speculation. Like, he’s the “grandson” of Daruk, but how does that work?? Gorons are born from the mountain itself, they don’t give birth. There’s a pair of Gorons in TotK that call themselves “brothers” (still a bit confusing since most gorons throughout the series call each other brother anyway), but they explain it was because they were born in the same cave at the same time, so they’re like family. Does this mean Yunobo was just born in the same cave Daruk was, and therefore inherited his “genes” and his magical abilities? Maybe! Maybe it’s a really cool special cave, right at the summit or something, where his whole lineage was born all the way back to the first sage of fire. Cool stuff to think about!

He’s not the leader of his people, in either game. That job belongs to Bludo. In the second game he’s definitely got a lot more influence and does occupy a position of leadership, but he’s not the chief. He’s just some Goron. The role of aiding link in both games is thrust onto him entirely because of his lineage. But he takes responsibility for it. He understands the power he holds, both as a champion’s descendant and as the Sage of Fire, and he steps up to the role. He feels a responsibility to his people and his city, even despite not being its official leader like the other champion’s descendants. That’s pretty cool.

He’s very sweet! I’ve talked about how kind and caring he is already but there’s a difference between doing it with a stoic sense of heroism or duty, and doing it with a big dopey grin and a genuine care for those he cares about. He’s often unsure and self-conscious, and yet he’s surprisingly optimistic about most things a lot of the time. He has a big smile (most gorons do), but he has an absolutely heart-melting laugh. I often tear up during the cutscene in which he sees the spirit of Daruk reclaiming Vah Rudania, him laughing and waving with such genuine joy and excitement, aghhhh it’s too much. Joe Hernandez certainly did a great job putting authenticity into Yunobo’s (and Daruk’s) emotions, this cutscene especially.

He has the best secret stone ability (gameplay wise). You cannot change my mind. Tulin is great for mobility and the other two are fine for tactical combat stuff, but none of them even come close to the versatility and power of Yunobo. Don’t have any good rock-breaking weapons and don’t want to use up bombs or zonai devices? Yunobo! Using a control stick-operated machine and can’t pull out your bow to snipe that pesky aerocuda? Yunobo! Wanna separate a big group of enemies from each other without wasting bombs? Yunobo! And don’t even get me started on the fact that when he’s on a vehicle, he’s got zero cooldown. You can hop on a hoverboard and decimate a molduga just by dribbling Yunobo on its head like a basketball.

All this being said I certainly think Yunobo is too often overlooked by fans for “being a coward”, or just… being a Goron? Gorons in general have often been a bit neglected in favor of the other more serious, conventionally attractive and *cough* slimmer *cough* Zelda races. It’s a bit disheartening seeing the amount of fan artists who don’t even have a clue how to approach drawing Yunobo or Daruk, simply because they don’t know how to draw bulky, fat or muscled characters. But I won’t preach too much on the subject, haha.

Long story short, I love Yunobo a whole lot and I’d love to give him a big hug and a smooch. That’s about it :))))

Also here’s a little sketch I made of him as a bonus for reading all that haha

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Buffalo Bill

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

Back in 2019, I started Psycho Analysis with a review of one of cinema’s most overshadowed and underrated villains. Now that I’m better at this, I've decided I'm redoing those old reviews, giving them a fresh coat of paint, fitting them into the modern Psycho Analysis style, and updating the scores. I figured there’s no better place to start than with good ol’ Jame Gumb.

Jame Gumb (yes, Jame, he doesn’t have an “S” in his name) is the enigmatic serial killer from The Silence of the Lambs known as Buffalo Bill. He’s left a trail of flayed women in his wake, his motives unknown, and it’s up to Clarice Starling to stop him with a little help from a smarmy cannibal asshole. He’s the perfect sort of twisted, perverted freak you’d hope to find in a grim, gritty detective story. In fact, he almost seems a bit uncontroversial and unremarkable in terms of villains, doesn’t he?

Oh, if only. Unfortunately, there are aspects of Bill’s character that have made him the second most controversial villain of 90s cinema after Ray Finkle from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. And we’re going to discuss all of that, because the big question when discussing Bill ultimately isn’t whether he’s good or bad, but is he good despite the unfortunate implications he ends up carrying due to what is and isn’t adapted from the book?

Motivation/Goals: Bill just wants to play dress up. Unfortunately, his idea of dressing up involves skinning women and then sewing said skin into a woman suit he can wear to dance about in his underground dungeon, penis tucked between his legs. To accomplish this Ed Gein-esque goal, he uses the playbooks of other killers like Ted Bundy to lure in unsuspecting women of considerable girth, traps them in a well in his basement, and forces them through a strict skin care regiment until it’s time to kill and skin them.

All of this is just incredibly fucked up, and also isn’t elaborated on to quite the degree the novel does due to Bill not being a character we focus on to gain real insight into. The full reveal of his plan is a shocking twist, but we don’t have the full psychological scope of his actions that was laid bare in the novel; while it doesn’t diminish Gumb in my opinion, it does leave the door open for some… problematic readings of what he’s up to, which we’ll discuss later.

Performance: While I don’t think I could possibly say he is an actor who manages to achieve the lofty heights of Hopkins, Ted Levine is still absolutely fantastic in his role. He’s an actor who always manages to inject his characters with a sort of unsettling air; just look at his brief appearance in Shutter Island if you need proof of this. Those skills are put to good use here, as he manages to make Gumb truly unnerving, and arguably far more realistic in his depiction of a serial killer than Lecter is.

Final Fate: After stalking Clarice Starling through his blackened basement while wearing night vision goggles, the tables are turned on Bill and the hunter becomes the hunted as Clarice unloads her gun into him. It’s a rather fitting death; as he preyed on women at their most vulnerable, it only makes sense that a woman strip him of all his power when he appears to be in control.

Evilness: I really don’t think there is any good argument against Bill getting the full 10/10. I mean, the man skins women so that he can wear their skin as a suit. How much fucking worse can a person even be in a story like this? It says a lot that Lecter comes off as more reasonable and less evil than the guy (even though this is decidedly not the case).

Best Scene: You know what it is:

And it’s even Jay and Silent Bob approved!

Really gotta compliment the song choice here; Q Lazzarus’ ominous dance tune “Goodbye Horses” forever had its image altered by its use here, but it really heightens the mood and feeds in to the unsettling nature of Bill’s dance. You can’t hear the opening notes of the song without this scene immediately coming to mind. And to think, its inclusion was all because she happened to pick up director Johnathan Demme in her taxi during a blizzard and showed him her demo tape.

Best Quote: From the above scene, Bill drops one of the most famous serial killer quotes in cinematic history:

“Would you fuck me? I’d fuck me. I’d fuck me so hard.”

Final Thoughts & Score: Buffalo Bill is horrendously underrated as a villain, though clearly there are some out there who appreciate him (Seth Green for example, who based Chris Griffin’s voice in Family Guy off of Buffalo Bill’s). That being said, the movie unfortunately ends up dipping into problematic territory as by excising most of the elaboration from the novel, Bill can unfortunately be read as an unflattering depiction of a trans woman.

Now you and I know that isn’t true, and anyone else who has read the book knows it isn’t true, but do you really think the average moviegoer in the early 90s cared about that? They see the freaky man dancing around with his schlong tucked away, wearing a woman’s skin, and find it unsettling and grotesque. It is incredibly easy to see how someone could see this as something akin to a villain in a crappy JKR detective novel, and it really didn’t have to be that way because the book really goes out of its way to not demonize trans people; while a bit outdated by modern standards, the book explains that trans people are not inherently violent and that Gumb is merely deluding himself into believing he is trans as some sort of warped justification for his actions. It even pointing out he was rejected for gender reasignment surgery. The movie has a few lines, but that’s kind of disappointing compared to the original novel, isn’t it? Then again, perhaps over-explaining would lead to the same criticisms the ending of Psycho gets, where laying things out for the audience in a way that tries not to demonize marginalized individuals is seen as tacky and unneeded.

Considering that Gumb was inspired by real life killers and their motivations (particularly Ed Gein, who has a higher number of fictional characters inspired by him than he does victims) and because I read the book, I don’t necessarily find his portrayal all that offensive, but I am a cis guy. If you do find his character tasteless, I won’t exactly blame you. It’s a rather unfortunate side effect of the transition from book to film that we lost the details that would ameliorate the problematic image of the character. With all that said, I still think he gets an 8.5/10. He’s certainly not as iconic as Lecter is and he’s too problematic to score any higher, but he is a very effective villain for the film he’s in and Levine’s performance is chilling and entrancing.

If nothing else, his existence led to the greatest open RP of all time. That’s gotta count for something.

[pianokantzart]

I’m not sure if you’ve done an analysis on Luigi’s first time in the dark lands but I’d love to hear your take! I love all your essays on the film and was just curious what your thoughts were in this scene. I wish that scene was a bit longer in the film to build more character and show Luigi’s strengths a bit more in my opinion.

Thank you anon! I have mentioned before that Mario has good fighting instincts while Luigi has good survival instincts. The scene of Luigi in The Darklands perfectly encapsulates these survival instincts– as well as his clumsiness– and how they coexist.

After getting his bearings in The Dark Lands, the fist thing Luigi does is gather his tools and sling the bag over his shoulder. His impulse is to cling to familiarity: he's in charge of carrying the tools, so he picks back up where he left off, as though he's trying to tell himself "This is fine! Just a quick hiccup... can't go back to Brooklyn without these. Tools are expensive. No need to panic."

The second thing he does is call for his brother. Even though he saw Mario go in a separate direction in the warp pipe, he's hoping despite everything that he's somewhere nearby. That he isn't alone.

"Mario?... Mario, where are you?"

Then, Luigi's shirt gets snagged on a branch, and this is when his clumsiness + his survival instincts become apparent: He gets his shirt caught in a branch, and tugs a little too hard, throwing him off balance – clumsy. When he's off balance, he nearly falls into a stream of lava, but his feet intuitively find just the right stepping stones to get him safely across without injury – good survival instincts. Still reeling from his close call, Luigi backs into a hollow tree full of bats – clumsy. As the swarm flies toward him, Luigi immediately turns away, hands flailing in self defense until he gathers himself into a solid protective position: crouched down, one hand waving the bats away while the other holds his hat as a shield against his face – good survival instincts.

At this point, Luigi's on high alert. Continuing forward, his gaze darts in all directions, following every little rustle and footstep. He spots something in the shadows just as his flashlight flickers out. He hits it to knock the battery back in place, and there's a dry bones... inches away, eyes alight, rushing forward to attack.

Luigi turns on his heels in an instant when the enemy rushes at him. He immediately tosses the tools aside, lightening the load so he can run away faster... good survival instincts... ... Then the clumsiness kicks in. He looks back at just the wrong moment, and throws himself stomach-first into a low hanging branch.

He is flung back into his pursuer, knocking him to pieces. Luigi is a little unsteady on his feet as he gets back up, but seeing the motionless bones on the ground before him he believes himself the victor, and gets a little cocky.

"HA HA! Yes! You just got... a'Luigi'd!" Protect him.

The victory lasts roughly 8 seconds. The skeleton returns to life and the bones slowly join back together. The dry bones moves toward Luigi again- far more slowly this time. Luigi, wisely, does not immediately go into a full sprint. He is placed in a bad spot– enemy in front of him, pool of lava at his back. Turning around is dangerous, and trying to rush forward risks reigniting the chase. Right now, the best option is slowly backing away in a large circle...

On cue, just as he's acting with good survival instincts, the ole clumsiness does him in again. While backing off he trips on a rock, leaving him prone as hoards of other dry bones break to the ashen surface of the wasteland with their sites set on Luigi.

Luigi is surrounded by the time he clamors back to his feet, the mob slowly moving in, close enough now that they can grab at him. There is no long an option to continue slowly backing away. Luigi zig-zags around the encroaching hoard and makes a break for it, reigniting the chase.

Running for his life with undead at his heels, Luigi takes aim for the nearest possible sanctuary: a castle in the distance. He is now in full survival mode as he flings himself over the jagged stones jutting precariously over the surface of the lava. He's a prodigy in the art of a rapid retreat, rapidly flicking back and forth between fight and flight whenever needed as he scampers and scurries and climbs with equal parts desperation and impressive athleticism.

Mario may be the most physically adept of the two, but Luigi's got some innate skills that come to the forefront when death is on the line, and though he lives in a constant state of anxiety he does not freeze up easily. Whatever the danger, he is levelheaded enough to find the best available method of escaping the threat, even at the height of his terror.

At last he reaches the castle doors. They are heavy, but he finds the strength to push them apart just far enough to throw himself through. He's almost too late in shutting the doors behind him; clawing hands reach through the gap, gripping at his face and clothes, just before Luigi summons the last bit of strength needed to slam the door shut and bring down the latch.

For a moment, he remains on edge. Luigi searches his surroundings, almost tripping again as he looks about– vaulted ceilings and dilapidated hallways, covered in debris. It looks like nobody's been here in ages, and the door– pounded against by hundreds of angry fists– holds strong before his pursuers give up, and all goes quiet save for the rolling thunder outside.

By all accounts, he seems to be in the clear. Letting out a long sigh of relief, Luigi sits down for a well-deserved rest, unaware of the audience of masked strangers that has silently gathered behind him.

I, for one, don't think that Luigi would've been captured so easily if they hadn't snuck up on him from behind and overwhelmed him with numbers. Not after a performance like that.

Luigi is scared– unashamedly scared– but his ability to keep a level head when all hell breaks loose is nothing to sneeze at. He is a total klutz, but at the end of the day he is a survivor, not because he knows how to fight, but because he knows how to flee.

It just so happened the cards were not in his favor this time around, but there is a lot of potential in the guy once he gets his footing.

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

Hi Nyarla 😅 uh, because you said this is a safe space, I was wondering if I could share something that's been upsetting me lately?

Don't feel forced to read or anything! Please stop if you're not in the right mental space or if you're just simply not interested or something! ❤️

So I've seen a lot of media (especially TikTok and stuff) portraying Crocodile, Mihawk and surprisingly Buggy as abusive towards their S/O 😅 As someone who's undergone abuse it's both triggering and extremely upsetting, and because you write for Poly Cross Guild so much and you stated you understand your brain being your worst enemy, I figured maybe I could list off the reasons I think this shouldn't logically make sense, or at least the reasons I'm trying to convince myself it doesn't, and ask your help and the help of all our community friends with it too? I'm so sorry, again, feel free to ignore this!

Crocodile, it's just...it doesn't 'fit'? In the sense that, sure, he beats up Buggy, but that's because he *CAN'T* kill him because he's serving as scapegoat, but otherwise he'd kill him and be done. Does that make sense? I mean that Crocodile feels like he wouldn't just...put energy into charming someone into a relationship to then hurt them? I'm trying to be so logical here it may come off insensitive and I'm so sorry, I'm just trying to grip into straws here, so I'm telling my brain he wouldn't 'waste his time' being abusive when he can just send the person away, or break up, or stuff. Because I know my brain won't just accept a 'He would just never do that because he is NOT like that and he would love you'. I genuinely feel like Crocodile is a kind of evil man with morals, along the lines of 'It is okay to murder people but it is never okay to disrespect your wife' kind? Also he just...he feels like once he finds somebody that won't betray him he keeps them so close? He very much gives the 'I will treat you how you treat me' kind of person? Plus I know it sounds stupid but with how much he seems to like and care for and protect animals I just don't think he would hurt his S/O? Also?? If it's because he kills other characters or beats up Buggy.....he doesn't??? Love????? Those people?????? You can't apply it to how he'd behave with a S/O?????

Mihawk probably comes from him being seen as very cold and distant, but it just....I detect no reason why he should ever be regarded as abusive either? He seems like he has a good heart, or at last not an evil one? Once again feels very much like a 'He wouldn't put energy into it'? He looks like he has very strong morals? And like he respects people in that sense?

And Buggy just...why? Because he yells at his subordinates and crew? That doesn't translate into anything? Buggy looks like he craves genuine love and clings onto it and falls into people pleasing?

HOLD UP

FRAND NEEDS COMFORTING AND REASSURANCE

This is gonna take a fair amount of typing so lemme sliiiide up to the ol laptop and—

Ow.

AHEM.

Anyway. First and very importantly, no apologizing, I am more than happy to be here in these situations. And you're giving me an excuse to do some good old fashioned character analysis?? Honestly, thank you.

Next, I already don’t like seeing them depicted as abusers in relationships. To each their own, but definitely not my cup of tea.

I hate it even more when it’s presented without trigger warnings. Trauma is a thing, please for the love of FUCK people, ADD TRIGGER WARNINGS. It takes all of TWO SECONDS to keep from making someone’s day worse.

Just fuckin do it mmkay.

Like, I get it. They’re technically villains. All three of them have the capacity to be complete jackasses, but no, I don’t feel like that translates into a romantic situation for any of them. At all. Crocodile, at worst, could potentially be neglectful to a point, in the sense that he ends up too busy with his work to spend as much time with you as you’d like, but he would find a way to make up for it when he becomes aware of it. And for sure the way a person treats animals is a clear indication of their character. It’s an enormous red flag to me when I see anyone that gets their rocks off on being mean to defenseless creatures (I know the bananawanis don’t technically qualify as defenseless, but still, same principle). Sir Crocodile is a busy man. It takes a lot of time and effort to run a successful criminal empire. He wouldn’t give anyone the time of day that he didn’t care about and downright treasure. He could be guilty of snapping off or being a jerk when he’s in a bad mood (who isn’t?), but, as you stated, he’s not going to waste valuable time courting someone just to use them as a punching bag, emotionally or otherwise.

Mihawk is still the human equivalent of a spoiled housecat to me. Cats frequently come off as aloof little assholes, they can be incredibly antisocial around other cats and people, but they are very capable of showing love and affection to their chosen human(s). That’s exactly how I see Mihawk. He’s shown a capacity for kindness to others even in canon. He didn’t have to let Zoro and Perona stay on Kuraigana Island when they showed up. He could have very easily killed them or sent them off. He also showed concern for both of their well beings’. He is more than capable of caring about others; he just has a tendency to be subtle about it. Not everyone’s love language is extravagant. Antisocial doesn’t translate to uncaring. Being antisocial frequently can mean just the opposite—that you would rather spend your time and affection on the people you care about than waste your energy making small talk with strangers.

I would like to have a word with whoever tf is depicting Buggy as abusive like?? He’s just a baby?? Okay, his temper could potentially be problematic at times, but abusive? Ex-fucking-SCUSE ME? I don’t track with this one at all. Lil guy is attention-starved. He would be an absolute sweetheart exclusively to his beloved. He would be clingy as hell to be sure, and he would spoil them rotten whether they like it or not, and his abandonment issues could be a lot to handle at times with a potential for jealousy, but none of that translates to abusive.

I say again, TRIGGER WARNINGS PEOPLE. USE THEM.

[generallemarc]

The Amazing Digital Circus analysis that none of you wanted, part 2

Jax is the best character so far. I was originally only here for Caine, since I watched Alex Rochon all the way back when he was the Autarch of Flame in the good ol' days of youtube Top 10 channels, but every line Jax has makes me grin.

You go Kinger. Never stop being you.

I feel like that croc doing poses is a reference to something, but if it is I don't get it

Ok, why tf did they have Jax's head stay in a static position while everything else was jostling around? Is he like a chicken?

Okay, the glitches are gonna be a thing. Neat.

This is the last comparison I ever expected to be making, but the vibe I'm getting from the "computerized creation seeing its own world for what it is" thing they seem to be doing with the croc reminds me of Tad Williams's Otherland. You probably know it as the MMO with zero players that Josh Strife Hayes played through, but it's a damn good read and surprisingly relevant to ADC given the potential similarity with emerging digital consciousnesses.

"I can't even remember her face. Did she ever have a face?" And now we're going straight into the one truly terrifying ending to the Stanley Parable. I actually like the fast pace here-there's obviously gonna be other adventures, and this is laying the groundwork for how the Amazing Digital World(name not final) works, but how it really works and not some facade that'd get shattered halfway through the season.

Damn, I care way more about this literal nameless npc than I expected to. The first thing he does when he realizes the scale of what's going on is demand the truth of who he is. With how horrifying the truth has been so far, that takes guts.

I now see where they're going with Jax. He treats everything like a game likely as a means of coping and staying mentally stable enough to avoid abstraction, so he's going to have an active interest in not believing Pomni when she tries to tell everyone that these are sentient beings and not just npcs. He'll need her to be wrong to avoid a massive amount of retroactive guilt, so that's what he'll believe.

Ok, but why teapots? Is that an Alice reference?

Yay, they killed the monster! They accomplished something actually beneficial instead of the pointless murder they were sent for!

...I should really wait to see whether characters are dead before thinking they are.

And there go all the "Caine is trying to help them escape" theories. He knows they're sentient-he just doesn't care. There is no way he's missed it with that kind of reaction.

Yeah, so that was...fuckin' dark. And with a disturbingly realistic reaction from Pomni too. Tl:dr-Caine is evil. Do not trust Caine. And also Zooble was there I think.

[sailorblossoms-snowbaz]

is simon your favorite character?

it's actually Baz! Whenever I think about this series I'm never not thinking "but what does Baz feel about this?" ... did Baz do something wrong? I can see that, but you're simply going to have to find another bitch to care. Might as well call me Simon because you won't ever catch me giving more fucks about anything or anyone not Baz-related.

(I write so much about Simon because he's far less direct/more "confusing" with expressing himself, and most of these posts are me figuring him out in real-time. Said this before but another big motivation is simply spite, or having an itch to scratch. Behind a lot of those posts there has been an "I don't think this or that part about Simon is being caught because it's going by assumptions and not what he's actually putting down on the page, the fact that he's not doing obvious exposition doesn't mean it's not there," or "this is clearly motivated by wanting to fuck Simon, which is neither something I'm against or any of my business, but I can't image caring more about Simon fucking than on Baz's feelings, and actually neither would Simon, and perhaps there's a character analysis or two that can come out of here" or because I have Things To Say about good ol' comphet and the specific way it manifests in the "I'm not ever looking to process shit" guy, etc. It just happens more often, because when I feel Baz is being done dirty I'm putting out word vomits on his name too. Also, Baz being done dirty sometimes requires an analysis of Simon...)

[punkeropercyjackson]

Kidcore!Percy Jackson ft.my Pjo s/i Lex de los Santos

He's autistic and it's a special interest and coping mechanism from his extremely brutal childhood,which also manifests in him being an agere flip!!He's a 7-10 range Little and a Big Sibling/Parent caregiver!

He actually managed to repress his age regression out of sheer spite and will for years(Poseidon genes)but after realizing his autism,he began to mellow out and let himself be loved enough that it finally happened.Sally was there for him when it happened and knew what it was from research on autism and bpd and ptsd which he also has so she took good care of him

SUCH a fan of Cookie Monster,he was his first ever comfort character in fact!!Cookie Monster desserts are one of Percy's favorite things EVER and he watches Sesame Street totally unironically

Was a Ghibli kid,Ponyo being his favorite and he gets back into it starting in his senior year at Goode High thanks to him,Sally and Estelle having a marathon

Temporary sea themed tattos

Beach Days means using his powers to make the experience straight up tropical-The water tricks he does are actually insane,he gets the marine life to interact with him and other beach residents without exposing he can talk to them and keeps everybody's drinks at proper temperature since them being liquid gives him domain over them.He's transfem bigender and was on estrogen so instead of just swim trunks or even them and tank top,since he's femme,he wears bikinis with attached hoodies and has multiple different pairs,all of which are blue

Lo-Fi Chiptunes are like lullabies to him but in the claming sense,not that they make him sleepy

Video games special interest too.He's a lifelong Pokemon,Animal Crossing and Splatoon fan the most but also grew up on Girlgogames,the Nickjr and Cartoon Network websites and time management games as a genre having played so many he literally can't count.He only uses emulators,phone games and secondhand consoles on anti-capitalist principal and is filled with fun facts,trivia and 'UM ACKSTUALLY''s in him with zero gaming fanon brainrot,He's A Real Gamer™️.Nessa is his Pokestan and Piplup is his signature Pokemon,his favorite villagers are Flick,Cookie and Rosie and he's a Tom Nook defender('He's NOT a capitalist,he's my dad you bitch and he's not even rich!!!')and his ideal partner is someone he can 100% comfortably play AC with to the point of doing it cordinatedly even without including the visiting eachother's must(which he also wants!!)aka Lex who's also autistic about video games,Marina is what set him for life on Splatoon as a franchise and he's obsessed with everything about it and subconciously employed the vibes into his natural personality,he has cartridges from his childhood saved and worn out character plushies Sally bought him he refuses to part with,does video game analysis and shitposts on his vlog channel and he follows the 'energy drink loving,cat ear headphones owning,super hot and pretty gamer trans woman' stereotype.He loves Cotton Candy Bang the most and his headphones are blue!!

Stickers enthutiast and puts them all over his stuff and carries around goofy positivity stickers to give out but some mean ones too because he loves being a little shit

He loves y2k/tween cosmetic products because not only does it look better than non-punk styles to him but it's also better on his skin.Lex taught him how to do them best and find which are for him!!Transfem/transmasc boygirl solidarity <3

Read Warrior Cats,Animorphs,Chronicles of Narnia and Goosebumps thinking they'd be regular 'ol jolly kids book series'.Sweet lordt he was wrong(but at least they were good!!)

Little!Percy is also a kitty regressor because Percy is calico cat kin(and shark kin)and a handful but not in a bad way!!He loves coloring,tickles,bubble baths,fairy tales,having his hairstyles changed and doing biiiig streches-Sally even does the long cat thing with him because he's fucking huge LMFAO 6'4 and thick as fuck(muscle and fat healthy balance)!!And Cg!Percy and Ca!Lex are Little!Nico's and Little!Hazel's official Cg's as their found older siblings and pseudo-parents to being with.They do babytalk,carry them around,give them extra kisses and take them on safe adventures like gardening(Percy's afrosolarpunk and so is Lex because they're a Demeter kid so La Residencia Jackson has it's own vegetable garden)and playing hide and seek around the apartment complex.They've learned how to spot when they're Tiny when they try to hide it and it's gotten to the point they've stopped and make a b-line for them when it happens instead because of all his ressurances and how safe they make them feel.Percy calls them his 'Little Rockstars' and 'Precious'(as in pearls)and Lex calls them their 'Baby Buds' and 'Shooting Stars'

Nico and Hazel made cat themed communication cards for them as a gift so he uses them when they're nonverbal.They have matching Aquapets too

Can't get enough of legos-he learned how to make them in diy.This extends to lego media such as Lego Monkie Kid,Lego Friends,The Lego Movie franchise,Ninjago,Lego DC,etc.He has a legosona and everything!!

Blues Clues raised him.Atla was also a top influencer and he kins Katara but actually,not just the stupid water powers jokes.He wished she was real so they could be best friends and wants to adopt her now

Has a shark plushie with blushy cheeks named 'Nugget'

And a gummy sharks addiction too

Really digs cozy horror and Wendell & Wild is his highest bar for it,as well as Kat Elliot for kids movie protagonists(correct)

His hair is mermaidcore dye style long locs,he uses his bottom of body of waters meditation sessions to take underwater pics and post them on his social media for the bit,his surfboard isn't safe from the earlier stickers attacks and he's got a whole hoard of diy'd ocean materials based things

Eats his food sloopily,including the fast food because getting it on your clothes is 'an essential part of the experience' according to him.He also loves googling weird sounding recipes to cook the foods but in blue(blue dragon egg cookies,blue marshmallow cloud cookies,blue candy cane cloud,blue bubblegum cloud slices,blue sparkly fruit gummies,blue chocolate rock candy geode,etc)and start to give Lex therian validation to give them to have,Lex being calico cat kin like him but also dragonkin,ghostkin,plantkin and mermaidkin

Sonic The Hedgehog autism is within her and burning bright.Ask her for lore and Strong Opinions™️ and her favorite Snapcube moments /threat

Goes to the local cat cafe and the frozen yogurt place at least twice a week and every other weekend with the other three Outcast Godlings and tbh they're the reason they're still in bussiness.Percy and Lex get cotton candy froyo with m&m's and gummy bears every time they have a date there

Was supposed to be a Special ED kid but melted down so bad when Sally offered she never even considered it again and he regrets to his day,eternally wondering what could've been as the purpose was to make school easier for him and befriend other mentally disabled kids and his internalized ableism was so bad already it ruined his chance

But at least he convinced Nico and Hazel to attend when they moved in with him and Sally post-Tlo and post-Boo respectively.The same one in fact and it gives him a bittersweet happiness(but no resentment)how happy they are at it and how much they thrived at it,both academically and socially.But at least he's had Lex ever since TLT and that's enough to sweeten it into sugary fluffy goodness because he's practically married to a pink punk rock nature angel(his description of them)

Pegasister!!Her fave pony is Rainbow Dash out of relatability and she's watched EVERY single FIM episode,watched every EQ movie and read every G4 comic.Flutterdash truther because she has taste and they're so Perlex-coded,diy's herself merch and buys at thrift stores for it too and has a ponysona named Wave Cookie she asked Hazel to help her design as a fellow Pegasister and she returned the favor with Hazek's ponysona Gold Ghostie and they convinced Nico and Lex to make theirs too under Obsidian Angelcake and Strawberry Surprise.She even does Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy cosplays with Lex on her vlog channel!!

And finally the vlog channel's name is 'Blue with no Clues' as an obvious ref <3333 Lex earned the nickname 'Magenta The Detective' from her fans due to her frequent apperances!!

Collects stim gifs

Her petty crime sprees include stealing overprized junk food

Uses sea animal reaction images only

Mega into Superman and Spiderverse.'Superman' not only as in Clark Kent but the Superfam as a whole as she reads the comics and watches Maws and she's got a HUGE thing for Gwen Stacy and Hobie Brown(platonically ofc)because they're both too much like her for her not to.Ghostpunk is literally Spider Variants!Perlex

Polly Pocket is her doll and she has multiple but her favorite is Beach Party and she fills it with actual salt water and lugs it around as stimming,W.i.t.ch. is her magical girl and Will is her fave because of the tgirl swag and mama's girl with abusive dad rep and Brandy's Cinderella is her DP and she owns a Cinderella 1997 CD and redraw the pic of her and Paolo eating fast food together as her and Lex

You best believe Riptide has charms on it

Lex is obsessed with Shopkins,Totally Spies,Strawberry Shortcake,everything pink and sparkly,arts and crafts including having a magic infinite scrapbook gifted to them by Demeter,boba,dogs,The Secret Saturdays,Starfire/Koriand'r(comics readers represent!!),sitcoms and cryptids so Percy indulges them back like they do her.They even have matching fully funfictioning thanks to being tricked out by Leo Barbie flip phones

Hardcore Bluey fan.Bluey is so hercore and i mean the show,not only the character and she got Nico and Hazel into it with her and Lex discovering it together beforehand and being equally loving of it and they go all out when it comes to Bluey in emotions and their followup enthutiasm

[vilnmelling]

Figured I'd do a little intro!

'Sup! My name's Vil N. Melling, and I go by she/her pronouns. I'm 19 years old, I'm from quaint little Sweden, I'm a rare species of Hatchetfield fan that's cishet (I was brought here by a couple of lesbians: my sister and her girlfriend), and while I'm not officially diagnosed, if I'm not neurodivergent there's just something unrelated that's terribly wrong with my brain.

I'm a writer currently swept up in a Hatchetfield hyperfixation. While I'm nerding out about Hatchetfield, I'm also writing my second book and editing my debut novel. NPMD also managed to suck me back into fanfiction writing after only writing original works for two years!

Hatchetfield favorites

Characters: Richie's in first place, closely followed by Paul. After that it's a big ol' tie between Ruth, Emma, Miss Holloway, Wiggly and for some reason, Trevor.

Musical: Nerdy Prudes Must Die easily takes the cake for me.

Songs: High School Is Killing Me, The Summoning, Let It Out, Bully the Bully, Literal Monster, What If Tomorrow Comes, Time Bastard and Virginity Rocks

StarKid actor: Jon Matteson, if you couldn't guess from that list of favorite characters (and from a whole bunch of my posts)

Hatchetfield ships

Ships I ship: Paulkins (Paul Matthews + Emma Perkins) (favorite) Lautski (Stephanie Lauter + Pete Spankoffski) Flipschitz (Ruth Fleming + Richie Lipschitz) Lexthan (Lex Foster + Ethan Green) Barneston (Tom Houston + Becky Barnes) Holloduke/Holloweane (Miss Holloway + Duke Keane) Swedish Barbecue (Trevor Lipschitz + Rudolph) I can see Tedlotte (Ted Spankoffski + Charlotte Sweetly) Legally Blonde (Gary Goldstein + Linda Monroe) in a "they have a regular affair" kinda way Alice and Deb if they work a bit on trust and boundaries And of course, Henry Hidgens and his six boyfriends

Ships I'll gladly stay away from, please and thank you: Max and Richie ANY Human x Lord in Black Paul and Emma with anyone but each other (they are fucking meant to be)

Any ship that wasn't mentioned in either, assume I'm neutral about it.

Other fandoms

Arcane. Arcane's undoubtedly the best story I've ever seen. It's the main inspiration behind my steampunk fantasy trilogy, and I fucking adore it.

Newsies. The first musical I liked! (The only other musical I actually care about-). It was my 2021 hyperfixation, as evidenced by the fact that I have an (now inactive) Instagram fan page with 700+ posts. If you wanna check it out, it's newsies_square.

While I'm not really active in any other fandoms, I do really like The Umbrella Academy, the Grishaverse (more specifically Six of Crows), The Good Place, Encanto, Gravity Falls, Modern Family and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Other platforms

I'm all over the place, baby B)

Instagram: vil.n.melling_cant.write (writing tips + writing memes + incorrect quotes + occasional content about my books) vil.n.melling_cant.draw (where I post my drawings) vil.n.melling_stealfromtherich (a page just for stuff about my book (titled Steal From The Rich)

YouTube Vil N. Melling. I've published one NPMD analysis (as well as a couple of other analysis and writing tip videos), and I'm planning on making a good few more of them!

TikTok vil.n.melling_cant.write (mostly book marketing, but also a few writing/reading memes)

I'll soon have my first Hatchetfield fanfic up on AO3, at which point this will be updated to feature my handle there!

[errantsquam]

Why Donald Duck is a Duck Centaur

Or rather, a thorough analysis on the anatomy of anthropomorphic ducks.

So I'm playing a certain Nintendo game ahead of time, and a duck character's anatomy caught my eye. It was interesting, and ripe for the ol’ art brain to overthink to the logical extreme.

Naturally, I don't want to get struck down by the Nintendo ninjas, so today we'll be talking about Donald Duck.

Behold.

Standard cartoon duck anatomy, right? Well, there’s more to it than it seems.

We’ll be breaking down his anatomy using the human anatomical structure, since he’s anthropomorphic, and going down from there.

And for reference, we’ll be using a diagram of a real duck skeleton.

I will also be adding on with my own diagrams, though the skeletons illustrated are in no way perfect. I also do not claim to be an expert on animal or human anatomy, and this is purely for fun and morbid curiosity.

Let’s start with the head.

The Head

Donald Duck’s eyes are front-facing, and from existing material, we can conclude that his neck connects to his skull from below, not from the back (as with real life ducks).

Therefore, it’s safe to say that Donald has a mostly-human skull structure, minus the beak. Since his eyes are so large, he likely doesn’t have much of a forehead at all.

The Body

We can conclude that his ‘chest’ area is similar to that of a human’s. His arms are very identical to human arms (besides the four fingers), and is stylized to look like wings. There should be a ribcage to give his chest that shape, as well as to connect to his arms.

In many animals, the clavicle/scapula helps articulate the forearms, and is located next to the ribcage, so we can conclude this is the same for Donald.

Now, moving on to the lower half of Donald’s body. It looks something like this.

It does kind of look like Donald has a thicc booty, but we can see something similar in the bodies of real life ducks.

They don’t have a human upper-body, so it’s less like a fat ass and more like…a duck.

So, how does this look like in the skeleton?

…uh oh. It’s another ribcage.

But wait! If Donald’s anthropomorphic, maybe it’s just a pelvis? Well, maybe, but that distinct shape is hard to replicate with *just* the pelvis of a duck.

The duck pelvis, if you will. ^

Maybe it could be fat. Maybe he does have a really fat ass. Maybe it helps cushion his weird duck spine when he sits, or keep him warm while swimming. Well, maybe. But it would be odd to have such a fat distribution without a skeleton to give it that shape.

For context, the blue whale has the most body fat out of all animals, and you can see how its skeleton guides its shape:

(Unfortunately I had to get this diagram from Shutterstock, which is not a very accurate anatomical resource, but just look at a blue whale skeleton and at an actual blue whale.)

But I digress. Since we’re taking this essay to the logical extreme already, it stands to reason that, if we’re comparing to real life ducks, Donald Duck does, in fact, have two ribcages.

Excuse how tight the drawing is. I’m not very good at ribcages. You can tell I’m the kind of artist who uses shorthands whenever they sketch a ribcage.

Anyway.

A centaur has a human upper body and a horse lower body. Donald Duck has a human upper body and a duck lower body. Therefore, he is a duck centaur.

However, we are not done with this analysis yet. We still need to talk about his legs.

The Legs

So, duck legs, right? Well, we already know they connect to the pelvis the same way as a duck. They’re kind of shoved to the back, because that’s where the pelvis is located. Still, they’re not quite actual duck legs.

From existing material, we see his knees bend the same way as a humans, and therefore, we can conclude that Donald is plantigrade. What does this mean? Well, his ankles stay planted to the ground, basically.

Here’s an example diagram, going in the order of: Plantigrade, Digitigrade, Unguligrade. Plantigrade is mostly primates, like humans. Digitigrade is most common amongst animals, like dogs or birds. Unguligrades are stuff like horses. (Unrelated, but did you know that this means that horse legs are just advanced fingers?)

Anyway, the advantages of being plantigrade is a better balance as a tradeoff for speed. (Source, because I am a cool person: https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=190923)

This aids animals in fighting, as opposed to fleeing.

Which checks out, because Donald has canonically been shown to fight, especially since he’s not very good at healing:

The Conclusion

By analyzing Donald’s anatomy and comparing it both humans and ducks, we get this:

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

Image Citations: Well, I was actually going to cite my image sources, but Tumblr only allows me maximum ten links per images, so I'm just going to leave what I put into Google Images.

"digitigrade vs. plantigrade"

"duck"

"duck skeleton"

"indian runner duck"

"donald duck"

"donald duck kingdom hearts"

"blue whale skeleton"

[thatvampireenthusiast]

on vampires and werewolves in dragonfable

*cracks knuckles* hello tumblrfable it is i, thatvampireenthusiast, here to live up to my username now that i have finished blood and roses in book 3 and i have some Observations, some Thoughts, some Light Analysis about the vampires in dragonfable (and also about the werewolves). general amityvale plotline spoilers but nothing specific.

this is going to be super long but that's what read mores are for! let's go.

we all know dragonfable loves its references, and while the vampires in dragonfable don't reference any one piece of vampire media in particular they are fairly representative of the classic Pop Culture Vampire archetype, with some changes to suit the setting, of course.

dragonfable vampires have the classic weakness to sunlight which is further enhanced by the weakness to the light element that most vampires we seen in game are subject to when you fight them (not all, but most). additionally they are weak to silver, same as werewolves, and while it is generally more associated as a weakness the later it's not entirely unheard of for it to be a vampire weakness, too. other classic vampire weaknesses such as garlic or faith are noticeably absent, and while the later makes sense to a degree as religion isn't really something that plays a huge role in dragonfable, it is a shame that the former was omitted, if only for the potential comedy of it. EDIT: i forgot to mention, it is also implied though not outright stated that the good ol' wooden stake to the heart method works in dragonfable, as that is what raven arms herself with when you and her go to confront frydae when thursday goes missing.

in regards to physical characteristics, the majority of the vampires we see all have the typical red eyes, fangs, and claws. safiria is of course a notable exception to the red eyes rule, having eyes that are more of a gold or topaz, though we do see red in her eyes when she's agitated or upset. another interesting thing i noticed is that, with the exception of frydae, who has been implied to be starving himself to a degree for some time, all of the vampires have what i would consider a healthy skin tone. there are numerous forms of vampire media that depict them as either lacking in pigment or having a corpse-like pallor, though there are also a number that don't. i suppose i just found it a bit funny that my player character was paler than the vampires were. one last note is that safiria is the only vampire we see with wings of any kind in her "human" form, perhaps due to her status as the vampire queen.

ability-wise, dragonfable vampires have the classic speed and strength associated with creatures of the night, and may presumably also have the enhanced senses as well. shapeshifting is clearly on the table as well, since a good number of the vampiric enemies you fight in the game turn into a bat upon defeat, and the way that vampires seem to appear suddenly out of mist at certain points implies that could be a possible transformation as well, supported by how safiria turns into a bloody red cloud during the portion of book 3 where she goes apeshit. what's really interesting to me though is the more atypical ability of blood manipulation, something that is not commonly seen in vampire fiction. elite vampires seem to have the ability to pull the blood from their enemies, if their attack animations are anything to go by, and we outright see both safiria and frydae do even greater feats of blood manipulation over the course of the story. this was a really neat ability to add, in my opinion.

something fun for me that i am very happy they included explicit information on is how one becomes a vampire in dragonfable. magus neron states in bloodwork that while lycanthropy is transmitted though a single bite, vampirism requires a "complete blood transfer." this is further elaborated on in blood feud where it is made clear by lord frydae that turning someone into a vampire involves the vampire drinking the person's blood and the person then drinking the vampire's blood. the exchange of blood as a means of catalyzing a vampiric transformation is not an uncommon method in vampire fiction, and is in fact present in the classic novel dracula. (and i will, of course, be making use of the fact that a bite alone doesn't turn someone for my own purposes. what purposes? yes.)

what is *not* stated in canon is how turning a person into a vampiric *ghoul* works, and how it differs from turning someone into a vampire. however, we don't actually see any vampiric ghouls in book 3 amityvale, nor are there any mention of them, so there may be some early installment weirdness or continuity weirdness going on there for why they're only present in book 1.

a few more general assorted notes before moving on. i touched briefly on elements earlier, and how vampires are generally weak to the light element. what i did not mention is their association with the darkness element, that generally being the element type of their attacks. vampires being associated with darkness of course makes sense, given the whole creature of the night thing. it also leads into safiria being willing to help with the search for a lycanthropy cure, since those infected with lycanthropy (a light-aligned ailment) can't be turned into darkness-aligned vampires. also worth mentioning i feel is how vampires are categorized as undead enemies, which while not unexpected seeing as a good portion of vampires in media are of the undead variety, does imply that being turned into a vampire kills you. which would make finding a cure for the condition interesting. good luck neron.

onto the werewolves! dragonfable werewolves are *neat*. vampires may be my main area of supernatural study, but i also know a good deal about werewolves, as well, and the two often go hand in hand.

i won't be going anywhere near as in-depth with the werewolves as i did with the vampires. they're very much the stereotypical beast werewolf found in pop culture, wolf-like creatures that are only vaguely humanoid and far more animalistic than a mundane human. they're clearly still sentient and sapient, though, albeit to varying degrees.

dragonfable takes the classic "lycanthropy as a virus" angle, though with a dragonfable sort of twist to it. that twist, of course, is the involvement of the light element that makes werewolves light-aligned creatures. this is *not* an angle that is often taken when it comes to werewolves, who are often treated as creatures of darkness just as much as vampires are. by involving light dragonfable manages to give an interesting addition to the classic vampire-werewolf conflict. that's really the part about things that fascinates me the most about dragonfable werewolves, that light element.

otherwise they're just classic horror werewolves. beast-like form, weakness to silver, strong connection to the moon, etc.

now onto something more resembling actual analysis.

while i wouldn't really call the vampires or werewolves in dragonfable *generic*, they due seem to follow general tropes and archetypes. i would say, however, that that's the point. dragonfable isn't a game about werewolves and vampires, but rather a game with vampires and werewolves in it. the werewolves and vampires don't need to be special or unique or different, that's not what they're for. dragonfable uses the trappings and tropes of horror and transformative monsters to further add depth to the narrative of book 3 and to show us another side of the rose. and like a certain number of horror stories, there isn't really a happy ending, as of when i'm writing this. not that i've seen, anyway. the villain is defeated and granted a fate worse than death, and the "heroes" all live, but the joy in the victory is tainted by the sorrow of what was lost to get there, and the maintained status quo of the fear of the unknown in amityvale. there is no immediate fix it or cure. and the rose is still the rose, even if there are good people in it.

it's not really a satisfying ending. which makes me think that it's not an ending at all, but a cliffhanger. maybe there's stuff further into book 3 that gives these characters the closure i feel they haven't got, or maybe there's planned content for future books that will do so. all i can do is hope.