#just here because he's the most complex character in existence and i need to suck him dry which will never change 💕

[mobius-m-mobius]

happy loki day! ❤️ don't want to spoil but did you hear mobius's real name? what do you think!

Thank you and Happy Mobius Day right back to you! 😘

Following your lead in not mentioning his name since the ep hasn't aired yet but I have and might be the only one happy about it lmao

Considering there isn't a name besides Mobius that would EVER *truly* suit him I was expecting the worst but actually think it's super cute or at least the shorted version we've heard is?? Off the top of my head can think of at least a couple dozen names I would've liked waaaaay less so this is a win as far as I'm concerned 😅

As for any potential variant implications I've lowkey got no idea what everyone's on about but even though he's never been Just A Guy™ to me I do think that's basically the case regarding his spot on the timeline and just want him to stay literally the only guy in the world and the one who fell head over heels for Loki in the process of seeing potential no one else ever could? Which is what I think will continue in the show and what I'm sticking with regardless of canon so I'm good 😂💖

[bonefall]

do you have any tips for writing a low empathy character who isn't evil? Or how to make an interesting apathetic character who's a thoughtless sort of evil? These are two different chatacters btw-

I tried looking up examples and stuff but uh. It's been a bit fruitless.

Honestly it's not too hard! Having low empathy just means we're bad at automatically "connecting" to the feelings of other people. You can come to understand it's not even a character flaw once you uncouple the idea that Empathy = Kindness. And apathy, well, that one's a bit more complicated imo.

Low Empathy

In English, it's just unfortunately super common to conflate Empathy and Compassion. To have compassion is to be aware of the suffering of another person, and ergo, want to help stop it. To be empathetic is to identify with and understand the feelings of another person. These are different things.

For an example in action; imagine a medic with a patient whose shoulder is dislocated, and xey'll need to pop that arm back in place in order for the patient to feel better.

A medic feeling EMPATHY for that patient is having an emotional response to what xey're seeing. Xey might have a tingly "ghost pain" thinking about the injury, and xey might feel guilty xey're going to put them in more agony, but also joy because this patient is going to feel much better in just a moment.

A medic feeling COMPASSION for that patient is thinking about how the shoulder must be causing a lot of pain, and knows xey have the skill to fix it. Xey know from xeir own experience that pain sucks and so it is a bad thing that needs to go away. It will hurt a little more for a moment, but then there will be immediate relief.

This is imo, why a lot of low empathy people are "bad at" comforting people without going to Autism College where they give you the scripts of Shit Neurotypicals Say. We're not trying to be selfish when we end up making "comfort sessions" about ourselves-- that's what we think empathy is, because we don't have a lot of it to really know what you want.

Like, doesn't it make sense to you? "I don't know what you're feeling. Here's a similar situation I've been though. I must know what you're feeling-- does that make you feel better? That you aren't alone? I think that's what empathy is, am I right?"

A LOT of low empathy people go into medical fields, the funeral industry, and disaster relief. We often really do want to help people so seek these fields out, or when we get there, just end up not getting burnt out like our high-empathy peers!

Apathy

As for the apathetic character, honestly, I'd suggest thinking about your story's themes. Villains are very special to me and I always try to handle them with care. What are you trying to say is bad to not care about in your work? How does their apathy play into the story you're trying to tell?

A Captain Planet villain is completely selfish, and exists only to benefit itself by exploiting nature in some way. Then the Planeteers show up and punch it in the face. Boiled down to its barest, most simple essentials; "We have conflicting goals and so I will stop you."

Personally I find total apathy to be something not especially compelling in villains, for that reason. Like, if you really don't care about anything, why bother with the trouble of going against the protag? Motivation is meant to be MOTIVATING.

(also ngl I'm on the Shadow As A Hero sort of bandwagon where I find it much funnier for the simple apathetic cool edgy guy to be the funniest person on your tennis team)

Dungeon Meshi has TWO characters who struggle with apathy, and are both antagonists at some points in the story, but never villains. Shuro and Mithrun. The theme of Dungeon Meshi is the beauty and complexity of life, the value of living, and how our connections to others changes the people we are. Food is a metaphor for bonding, self-care, and understanding.

For Shuro, he begins the story as someone who's both been encouraged to bottle up his emotions for the sake of other people, as well as to not actually consider the emotions of those lower-born than him. He's from a very different place than the other members of his party, and this causes friction as class, culture, and sophisticated, refined, weapons-grade autism clashes.

When the woman he loves is eaten by a dragon, he doesn't stop to tell her brother and """childhood friend""" what he's planning, as if they both wouldn't run in and get hurt. He owns demi-humans. He doesn't consider his own needs or the needs of his rescue team of loyal vassals. As a result, he's too weak to continue, losing a fistfight with one of the main characters, Laios.

After this, he connects with him for the very first time, and reaches out to him by giving him an important magic item. There's even a MASSIVE moment where he outright tells Laios that his ability to be so open (read: not have to mask his autism) is something he envies, breaking through that veil of apathy he wears.

The story Dungeon Meshi is telling here is that it is important to value the needs of yourself and of others. Shuro's apathy towards his own needs in a bid to prove his love weakened him. In acting like he was above his old teammates, he never spoke to them like people to smooth out his issues. He's never even noticed how much his vassals love and care for him.

(and the incredible irony is not lost on me, that Shuro's name is because Laios mispronounced it and was never corrected... while Shuro never noticed that Izutsumi had the unwanted name "Asebi" forced onto her when she was "taken in" and made his slave.)

See how that comes back to the theme? Shuro doesn't exist to just "be some asshole" or act like a villain. He has a full character arc that contributes to the narrative.

For Mithrun? I won't even spoil it. Go read Dungeon Meshi. Watch elf depression. We love a king with strabismus.

Anyway,

If you ever need good personal resources on any stigmatized mental condition, I've found it's usually productive to go into the #Actually (Thing) tag here on Tumblr. You can find people posting about basically anything. I found a lot of really good resources on NPD that way.

[just-sp-in-inginthevoid]

Hello. I am wondering why you start liking Takeomi. He is the most hated character by the fandom and your choice of wet soggy cat is very unique. I want to listen your ramblings.

Oh anon, if only I knew

I'll try to remember how it happened, that much I think I got it.

So, when I first got into TR, my mind mostly focused on Mitsuya and the Shiba (mostly Taiju), so much so that I ended up writing a lot more than I thought I ever will on Taiju and explaining where his behavior comes from

Because it seems like a lot of people missed some important information. And by doing that I was able to show them details they had missed (prove that I was right in previous posts where I didn't justified myself and basically got called a liar by someone in the notes which incredibly pissed me off-) and, although that doesn't excuse what Taiju did, it does explain it and makes him more.. real? Maybe not relatable, but his domestic abuse didn't pop up out of nowhere and a lot of people know what intergenerational trauma can do so while still hating Taiju they could understand him better.

Then, having finished my Taiju analysis which also opened my eyes since I found more than what I initially thought about; I myself was able to understand him better and so I thought-

Why not do that with every hated characters in the fandom?

I don't quite recall if my (at the time, very slight) interest in Takeomi happened a bit before or at that time, but the reason why I focused on him before the others (which, uh, aren't a lot anyway) was because I saw stuffs written about him which I didn't really agree with? Like, yeah, he was flawed and raised his siblings badly - especially when next to Shinichiro who was (at least depicted as)(and try to be) good at it - but they were kinda amplifying things

I know that a lot of people relate to Sanzu, or just, love him, and since they saw things I haven't seen, I told myself 'well, let's investigate, then' and then I wrote about 17k words on Takeomi's psychology.

I literally walked myself into the Takeomi rabbit-hole (what a FUCKING mistake /positive)

Takeomi did neglect his siblings, and passive-aggressively verbally, or even emotionally, abused Sanzu and for most of the fandom, is not attractive (and, let's not lie, beauty is a redeeming quality for a lot of characters regardless of fandom. How many characters, no matter their faults, get forgiven by fans just because they're hot, uh?). So he sucks, yeah

You know what he did do? acknowledged his mistakes, apologized for them and would have started his redemption arc if Wakui had had the time for that when warping up the story

He made mistakes, he's flawed, he's human, he wasn't even supposed to be here because he only entered the delinquent world to keep following Shinichiro, his ego which was back then very weak and non-existent got inflated for either survival or because he received so many compliments he didn't know what to do with it if not both because he was a k i d.

Most of the characters in TR are kids or young adults when they commit things they shouldn't have done. And yes, you can hold them accountable for it but they didn't know better - they didn't have the tools to

Now, why do I like Takeomi.

First of all - the amount of flaws he has. Don't think I need to make the list, I think everyone's got it (although make sure to remember he's got an inferiority complex and it's most likely that he also has an imposter syndrome so he's just like me fr-). But even with that, he's never an antagonist. He does things wrong but he's on our side (he's just very deaf to anyone's opinion that doesn't fit his). He sucked at raising his siblings as a kid himself (before his superiority complex developed and during it too - albeit in different ways) but that's just.. realistic? Not that it takes away the seriousness of it and the consequences, but how else could it have been? The impact on Sanzu were disastrous (not that they were the only reason why Sanzu lost it), I understand that, I don't erase that nor deny it BUT THERE'S A REASON WHY TAKEOMI IS LIKE THIS, TOO. And if people blame Takeomi for his actions (which, again, fair.) then blame Sanzu for his!! he was willing to mass murder hundreds of people!!! including his sister!!! he killed a few people!! argh. But Sanzu got his tragic-backstory/childhood shown and has a design that appeals to most, so I guess it's harder to hold him accountable for the seriousness of his actions (I like Sanzu, don't get me wrong. But sometimes the hypocrisy of some fans makes me a tiny bit angry 🙃)

Anyway, reason 84123286 of why I need Takeomi's backstory. Bc, honestly, from what we know of him as a kid+his coping mechanisms as a teen/adult, it would make sense to me if one of the reason he was so hostile to Sanzu was because he saw himself in him and Didn't Like ItTM (for different reasons) (!!! Which would add nicely to Shinichiro seeing himself in Mikey!!! more sano-akashi parallels, lets goooooooo) Talking about the parallels between the two, the fact he's Shinichiro's narrative foil compels me lots. Takeomi is quite literally Shinichiro with a negative filter on. And how can he survived that? How can he cope with the fact that no matter how much he wants and tries to be Shinichiro he'd never succeed? He'd always be the pale copy, the wood statue covered with golden leaves that are peeling away with time next to the pure gold statue. The Teru Teru Bozu that fails to chase the rain away and is going to be decapitated for his ineptitude. He'd always be himself and that's what he hates the most. He'd always be compared to Shinichiro and there's nothing he can do about it. And he can't even be angry at Shinichiro. That's his best friend. He loves him. He has been the first to love him. He has been there before anyone else. He can't lose Shinichiro, Shinichiro gave him everything. Everything he cares about, he sees value of, at least. Immaculate.

I'll also die on the hill that he is competent. He himself has no idea on what but he is (he mixes everything. For him it'd go like this: he gets praised but he's done nothing, Shinichiro has done everything which means they praised him for what Shinichiro has done. Which means what Shinichiro do, he does too. Which means Shinichiro's achievements are his as well! right? He didn't do anything by himself, there's no need to praise him for something else.)(he's fully blind that strategically-speaking and in other brainy-brain domains he's competent af. Bc since it comes 'easily' to him - since he doesn't struggle much with it, or in contrary he struggles so much he cannot possibly be good at it, then there's nothing to praise. And like, for him what Shinichiro does deserve to be praised. What he himself does is just.. things he does so compliments feel shallow)(+Bonten strives as much as Bad Toman and Manila if not more, yet there's no Kisaki. Ofc there's still Koko so that helps, but Takeomi is new to the team and got recruited (at least that what Senju said) in Brahman for his ~wisdom~)

He's also the only character who was around before Shinichiro 1) became a big brother 2) became a delinquent and that has to mean something. They're the only ones left to remember how the other was before their life went to shit

In the final timeline, he looks so healthy. He made peace with himself, his relationship with his siblings is good, he made amends. He healed, they healed. His relationship with Shinichiro, Benkei and Wakasa is good too everything's great. He learnt to understand what he is competent in and focus on it; he's not Shinichiro, he'll never be and that's okay. He's him and what he is complete Shinichiro just as Shinichiro complete him – they take care of one another's flaws but can also know live independently from each other. Perhaps, perhaps Takeomi stopped being so dependent of him

Appearance-wise, I love dark hair+green eyes combo in general so it wasn't that hard (plus there are some godly fanarts out there)

And of course: despite his complexity, at the end of the day - he's really just a pathetic wet poor excuse of a man who can't do anything right and isn't that endearing

I'm slowly getting out of the denial-phase to enter my acceptance-phase when it comes to loving Takeomi. Liking things most people hate or are neutral about is smth I hate for Reasons but it also seems to always happen lolololol. Will try to talk more about Takeomi when it comes to my mind, in case ppl who also love him but don't want to make it known because of his bad reputation in the fandom saw my posts and feel a bit more okay and comfortable with loving him

[beevean]

I think another reason I don't like the writing in Frontiers is that it feels... egotistical? Like idk the entire air around the games just gives off "Oh here's the game that will save us from the big bad 2010's writing, so praise it!"

Also just how I feel the more dramatic parts feel trying too hard, like when Sonic is slowly being corrupted, I felt next to nothing... the game felt like it was grabbing me by the shoulders and going "See this scene??? See how much pain Sonic is in??? FEEL SOMETHING!!!"

I use the word "pretentious".

Frontiers clearly aims to have a different story than usual. Event-wise, it's pretty paper thin: Sonic rescues his friends and uncovers the mystery of these new islands he's stuck in. No big deal, Sonic games don't need a big complex plot. But unlike, say, Heroes or Generations, Frontiers has little to no levity, the music is bombastic in an attempt to inspire awe and wonder, and it's heavy, heavy on character interactions. Introspections, even. Amy, Tails, Knuckles and Eggman are supposedly eviscerated by the writing, with all their fears and doubts and desires exposed, like a drawn out character analysis and, yes, a blatant rerailment from the terrible Pontaff games. Tails and his arc that is literally "wow I sure sucked in Forces, what was up with that" is the most obvious example of this, but I have talked extensively how Frontiers feels like a huge love letter to SA1 in the worst of ways.

(and the unnecessary dig at Baldy McNosehair that is also the second time in a row from Flynn :\ let it go, man)

Like, alright. Let's be real. Games like ShTH, '06 and Forces wanted to be taken seriously too. They did not succeed at it, for various reasons. And while ShTH makes me laugh for how tonally dissonant it is, and I don't think Forces is as cringe as it was made to look like, I still think '06's story is largely boring and a bit tryhard for the series, although it has a few funny/cute moments. So yes, overly serious games are not new in the series.

But Frontiers really gives me a whole different vibe. Like it doesn't just want to be taken seriously: it wants to be praised as a pivotal moment in the series. Perhaps it's precisely because of how it solely exist to "fix" characters, how it shoves as many references as it could as candy for the old-time fans (when one of the complaints of the Pontaff games was that they felt disconnected), how everything about it, and now I'm also adding the gameplay, feels like it doesn't exist for its own sake, but to be "a step in the right direction". Like that it's the biggest accomplishment it can reach. It's a step in the right direction. It's better than what came before. We are fixing the series. Right?

(I wouldn't mind the attempt to show how Sonic was suffering from the corruption. I genuinely like the scene where Sage keeps questioning Sonic's resolve and he just keeps going with a gritted smile. I sure mind how the game was rushed into giving it a non-conclusion lmao, and Final Horizon didn't really fix things.)

[yentling]

Two episodes into the vampire show. Notes:

- first ep: Southern gothic tropes reimagined in terms of black wealth which is fascinating esp bc of similarities between Louis’s family and the central characters of The Sound and the Fury. I especially need to think more about the role of Paul as a mentally ill character here.

- Jacob Anderson is acting his entire ass off in this show

- I assumed as much but Eric Bogosian really is doing his best Anthony Bourdain impression here

- second episode: was trying to verbalize this coherently with my gf yesterday but basically there’s this really interesting theme of like ethical consumption here where we have Lestat who is obviously predatory and will eat basically indiscriminately as long as it feels logical to him (and his logic is twisted). This does not feel human to Louis whom we now see enjoying this total gluttony of presumably “ethically sourced” blood but it very clearly is like…entrenched in processes that are probably not very ethical. And we can work this into these tropes of the “vegetarian vampire” and our attitudes toward animal consumption to begin with where like most of us don’t want to kill another human being because that’s too cruel and hunting an animal is too much for most people BUT going to the grocery store for our meat and veg is often time contributing to far more cruelty toward both animals and humans.

- And then conversely to criticize Lestat too like hunting is often times put into the context of sport right like big "game" (so called because of the use of hunting as a sport) hunting was never really about survival right? Like even aside from whether they were using the animal remains or not, the effect is not to survive the beast but to assert domination over these colonized areas and their people. While native people often featured as helpful characters in big game memoirs they were usually also depicted as foolish, cowardly, or even untrustworthy when compared to the hypermasculine white hunter. And I think we really see this in Lestat’s approach toward feeding, and it’s maybe part of why Louis feels uncomfortable not only as someone who still feels connected to humanity, but as a Creole black man.

- Lestat is sooo fascinating in this rendition and I’m still trying to refine my understanding of him because there’s clearly so much he is like right about in terms of race relations in the US but he’s also specifically a white predator, right? Like we can say that Lestat is “in love with Louis’s humanity” which is probably true but there’s an area here where some of this complexity is coming from Louis’s racial identity, which makes him vulnerable in multiple ways. Which isn’t so unusual in real life white “allies” obviously but raises interesting questions in the context of vampirism.

- as usual vampirism here is such a fascinating analogy for capitalism and imperialism. The fact that the first victim we know about (as in we have met the character) in a sex worker. Like intentional or not I think vampires make us question who is bearing the brunt of this widespread exploitation? And you can see this as a direct metaphor for the bourgeoisie sucking the life force out the proletariat or you can move away from that and just think about, like…the reason serial killer victims are usually homeless people, sex workers, and others who are seen as, you know, unwanted by society is because they exist in a sort of underclass maintained and reenforced by capitalist structures.

[markantonys]

what's wrong with book!Min (gave up on books right now because i can't anymore, i'm on 4th I think? she is just not there)

book 5 is exactly when she started sucking haha so you stopped at the right time! i do get into some spoilers here, though i tried not to say anything too specific that you wouldn't have already known from the first few books (such as the fact that rand has multiple girlfriends and min is one, which her viewing revealed in book 2). also, maybe you won't even want to read this if you'd rather let your opinion of show!min continue on untainted, because i will say that 90+% of the things i'm about to complain about are very unlikely to be a thing in the show.

basically she just gets hit with an abysmal case of Men Writing Women: out of the blue she decides to throw her whole life away to chase rand down and make him love her, she changes her whole personality and style to try to cater to what she thinks rand would find attractive (i'm all for wanting to look hot for your man, but min herself doesn't seem to enjoy her new clothes or find them comfortable, and that's a problem), she stops having any relationships or connections outside of rand, she barely has scenes with anyone but him and in ensemble scenes she's just there to cling sexily onto him while having 0 dialogue because she has nothing to contribute to the plot-relevant discussion going on, she has no storyline besides barnacling herself to his side and being on tap for sex 24/7, she has no narrative role or in-world obligations besides Being Rand's Girlfriend, etc.

and on top of all that, you have fandom calling her ~Best Girl~ and saying that she is the only one of the 3 women who deserves to be with rand because she Puts Her Man First like a Good Girlfriend should, and fuck the other two for having the audacity to have responsibilities outside of being his girlfriend. fuck them for actually being complex, well-rounded characters with independent storylines and character arcs, right? we only like female characters who exist to serve men's storylines!

and on top of all THAT, she DOESN'T EVEN serve rand's storyline! she literally doesn't do anything! she always makes me think of the "let me ask you a very fair question. what DO you do successfully?" vine. you could cut her out of the entire series and very little would change. min fans claim that she was integral to keeping rand anchored during dark times because min and rand claim that is the case, but the actual scenes between them in the text do not back up that claim. i can think of ONE scene where min actually makes an effort to have a serious conversation with rand about what's worrying him; every other time she just stops his doom-and-gloom talk by punching him or waving knives at him or distracting him with sex. and the way people put her up on a pedestal for taking care of rand at his worst (which she doesn't actually do anyway) is a romanticization of the shitty idea that it's a woman's job to be the sole emotional dumping ground for her male partner. i guess it could simply be that Dating Your Therapist is a romance trope i personally dislike, but ugh, i HATE that vibe of their relationship and especially of the way the fandom talks about their relationship.

and on top of all THAT, their relationship is totally logic-breaking at times because rand will go "i'm so isolated and alone! i'm going to go snuggle up in bed with my live-in girlfriend and think about how isolated i am." he will go "i am so dangerous, i have to push away everyone i love! come on min, i'm taking you into the most dangerous magical event of the age during which many channelers will show up to attack us, even though you're a defenseless civilian and there's no reason you need to be there." it feels like RJ wanted to give rand an isolation arc but also wanted him to have a sexy mistress on his arm at all times, and could not understand that those two things are mutually exclusive (unless said mistress is just no-strings-attached sex, but that was not intended to be the case here, although the cognitive dissonance often makes it feel like rand DOES see min as just no-strings-attached sex rather than a real person whose safety he needs to worry about).

her behavior about the whole romantic situation also drives me nuts because she is SO possessive and jealous, which i personally absolutely hate in romantic relationships, though some people do find it attractive, including min herself - there's a scene where she tries to make rand jealous because she thinks it makes the sex hotter and i was like girl wtf? get some dignity. actually "girl wtf? get some dignity" is my attitude towards all her behavior about the relationship because listen, i fully support girls being silly over their crushes, but christ alive the way min comports herself brings me so much secondhand embarrassment. she'll be like "i'm sooooo mature and worldly, i will never lose my head over a man like OTHER women do, because i am Not Like Other Girls, i'm superior to them" (the Not Like Other Girls vibes is another huge annoyance about her character & fandom reception of her character) and then she'll proceed to go plop down into rand's lap and dandle herself on his knee in the middle of a political meeting to show off to everyone present that he belongs to her. girl, you are a grown-ass woman! get some dignity! she also has a shitty attitude towards the polycule situation, i won't say more since the details of that are beyond book 4 and this post is also getting super long, but suffice it to say that, surprise surprise, possessive and jealous people do not work well in polyamorous relationships.

but most of the above is the fault of the author (or the fandom), not the character. i can't exactly separate the two while reading because "RJ is writing min badly" very quickly blurred into "i feel super annoyed every time she is onscreen" very quickly blurred into "i can't stand this character," but it does mean that the show has a good chance to fix most or all of these problems with her because they aren't necessarily intrinsic to her characterization, they're just symptoms of RJ's weird ideas about het romance and gender norms. the show making her a world-weary 30-something-year-old who takes no shit and who is GNC in a queer-presenting genuinely-doesn't-care-what-straight-men-think-of-her-looks way rather than a not-like-other-girls-tomboy-who-still-caters-to-the-male-gaze way is already a HUGE step in the right direction!

[myfairkatiecat]

Kate Wetherall, Katherine Pulitzer, and your Keefe boy :)

Aaaaaahh yes yes yes these are really good ones ahdkdhsnbdjshssj

Kate Wetherall:

Ok so. The reason I say she works best as a part of a dynamic is because while she’s awesome on her own, she is MOST compelling with the rest of the mysterious Benedict society!!!the four of them together are so special to me

Also I’m a Kate apologist, she’s never done anything wrong and I stand by it :)

(And yeah if you see the way I write Kate you may see me projecting. It might have something to do with me being in sixth grade when I first read the books and going “omg we have the same name!!!”)

Katherine Pulitzer:

Look I relate to this girl SO MUCH you don’t even understand 😭

And the fandom has a tendency to villainize her or make her seem problematic simply for being complex, which… is a problem I’ve been seeing a lot of lately, actually.

I love her SO MUCH. She’s kinda scary but also she’s me

AND FINALLY

Keefe Sencen:

Once again flattered by your interest in hearing me talk abut my interests that you don’t share 🥹

Okay look. I LOVE KEEFE. And I initially colored in “they’ve never done anything wrong” cause I have tendency to be a Keefe apologist, but if I’m being real here he’s definitely done stuff wrong 😭 @phtalogreenpoison has heard me talk about his character in detail and knows EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

Why the tiny scribble on “too much screen time”? Well…….it’s technically true. He does get too much screen time, and for not being the MC, he’s started getting a lot of his POV in Sophie’s story. However, I EAT IT UP cause I’m a pretty standard basic Keefe girlie. So while I understand the side of the fandom that’s beginning to want more of some other characters, and I think that’s soooo valid, I also am totally eating up all the Keefe screen time. SO EXCITED for the Keefe book that’s coming out this fall. I love this boy. So much.

Also would I marry him irl?? uhhhhhhh if Sophie didn’t exist then YES he’s mine. But I’m a girl’s girl and he belongs to Sophie <3 they’re so cute together, too!!

Somebody is gonna come at me for saying he’s deeper than he seems cause we actually get quite a bit of insight into his character depth, but I think even what we do see doesn’t fully cover it. Keefe is more open with his friends than he’s ever been with anyone else… but he definitely has a LOT of defense mechanisms in place, which is why he has that cool-kid-doesn’t-care-doesn’t-work-only-flirts vibe going on in the first book, and the first time we REALLY get slapped in the face with “haha you knew he had a facade but here have a GUT PUNCH” is the quote in the beginning of book three when Sophie suggests they stop by Keefe’s house and he just sorta looks down and says “I…don’t bring friends home.”

Like. We knew his parents sucked. But something about seeing him vulnerable like that. Ahdkfhdjshdjdshs

I think the mischief making and flirting is also a real aspect of his personality, but a lot of the sorta bad-boy-ish reputation he’s got going on at school in the beginning books is a front to cover his ✨issues✨ and I don’t think we even see the full depth of how much the reveal of his mother as a villain and her constant attempts to make him “embrace the change” and have a “legacy” tied to her evil thoughts impact him. We know it’s hard for him and we totally see that, but even in Keefe’s POV he avoids thinking about it, and… honestly it’s up to us fanfic writers to really delve into that angst. Shannon sorta tells us it sucks for him, but doesn’t really show us (not fully, at least) cause Sophie is the main character, not him.

And do I project my issues on him? …maybe a little…his particular brand of the “using humor to cover up my problems” trope hits very close to home for me. I deflect with humor in the exact same flippant way, and just like with Keefe, sometimes it works and sometimes it gets me in trouble with my friends when I need to be serious.

(Yes I want to carry Keefe in a hand a like a tiny dog. Not elaborating.)

Wasn’t sure whether or not to say he gets done dirty by the fans. Historically, this fandom is head over heels in love with him, but right now there’s been a bit of a turn towards combating Fitz hate (another character that often gets pitted against Keefe unjustly bc of shipping discourse) with Keefe hate and saying he’s problematic when he’s really just complex.

So yeah I’m not normal about Keefe at all, if you couldn’t tell.

I managed to talk for a very long time about him

You can tell where the brain bees are buzzing rn can’t you

[megkuna]

Do sasuke 👁️👄👁️

favorite thing about them

complex (difficult) relationship to home, love and family ... i think about it daily. there's nothing more important to me than characters whose stories center around these themes ...

least favorite thing about them

tbh i strongly feel he should have punched tobirama right in the face during that scene when he talks to all 4 hokage. and he didn't. that fucking sucked. oh hiruzen too

favorite line

OH SO MANY. "what my eyes see, itachi, is you dead at my feet" absolute fucking banger line

"i have long since closed my eyes, my only goal is in the darkness" DRAMA QUEEEEEN i love her so fucking much

brOTP

sasusui!!!!!! i ship them too but they're my boy best friends in every universe ....

OTP

DOES IT NEED TO BE SAID. he's been in love w naruto since age 12

nOTP

i ship most things for him to some degree or another tbh but like it's wild to me that sasuke/h*nata exists ..... girl what !

random headcanon

just as with kakashi what i have is not a random headcanon, it is a determination because i will make it into a reality ACE SASUKE MY BELOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

unpopular opinion

genuinely i think his relationship with oro was very complicated and that hatred/disdain alone doesn't even begin to describe what sasuke feels abt orochimaru even tho there was much abuse there. i don't know if that's an unpopular opinion, but i suspect many might not like it. deeply insecure guy who was consistently compared to his older brother and always came in #2 is finally #1 to someone who has a strange and morbid fascination with him. he's a kid, it's very easy to manipulate him, etc. i have more thoughts about this but i won't go into it all here

song i associate with them

RINAAAAAAAAAAAAAAa

favorite picture of them

would u believe me i did not give a damn about sasuke until i reached precisely this scene? then i was like oh clearly he's lost it he is my favorite now

[kinghijinx22]

Top 5 Canonical Pansexual Characters

So I recently made a post about why one of my all time favourite characters Mae Borowski from Night in the Woods is amazing pansexual representation and how the way her feelings are portrayed felt very accurate to my own. In that post I also said that there isn't enough pan rep, which is true and to prove my point I made a list of the only 5 undeniably canon pansexual characters I know of also 2 of them are from Steven Universe which is almost cheating to pull examples from. This is my ranking of all 5 of those characters based on how good they are as rep because I thought this would be a fun list to make and it's still Pride Month so yeah.

5. Willow Park (the Owl House)

So the Owl House is my favourite thing out of all the things mentioned on this list and Willow is my second favourite character here overall, but the way her being pan is handled is non existent in the show. There is nothing that even hints at it and Dana Terrace only announcing after the show seems disingenuous. I'm not too mad because the show already has plenty of queer rep that is fleshed out and sincere, but in the case of Willow it feels like Dana trying to retroactively cover all her basis. Besides this Willow is still a great character though, very likable, plant magic is cool and she has a great arc of finding her confidence and following her passion for sports.

4. Rose Quartz (Steven Universe)

An incredibly complex character that people with no media literacy love to hate. The idea that you witness her redemption character arc in reverse and how you only have word of mouth and flashbacks to go off of because she's actually dead throughout the whole show is kind of genius. As pan rep though, her orientation is left pretty vague. Like we know that she loved Greg and that Pearl loved her but whether Rose reciprocated Pearl's feelings is never answered. It's implied that she might have been polyamorous with a bunch of people and that it included Pearl but then Rose decided that she want a monogamous relationship with Greg and that's why Pearly became jealous of him. But again this is never explored beyond very vague hints.

3. Sadie Miller (Steven Universe)

Most likeable human character from Steven Universe and easily one of the best side characters. I like her arc of really finding herself throughout the show like when she quits her excruciating job at the Big Doughnut and discovers her passion for singing. She also discovers who she likes throughout the show when she is shown crushing on guys, gals and nonbinary pals throughout the show, eventually settling down with her enby partner Shep. While Shep is only in one episode near the end of the show they are pretty cool and they are really cute with Sadie as a couple.

2. Finn McNamara (Life is Strange 2)

This one is kind of weird to me because while I do like Finn overall and can sympathise with his backstory, the fact that they lock his romance with Sean behind making some morally bad decisions does have some pretty messed up implications behind it. Because there are 2 romance options in Life is Strange 2 between a girl named Cassidy and a guy name Finn and they make the Cassidy romance the one that's easier to get because it just shows up when you choose not to rob the weed farm guys, meanwhile you have to choose to go with Finn to use Daniel's powers to help them with the heist. Now the weed farm guys are assholes and you do need the money and Finn does have some good motivations, but he's also thinking selfishly and putting Sean's brother Daniel in danger and teaching him to use his telekinesis powers to get what he wants. By locking the same sex romance option behind the morally bad decision you are tying queerness to inherent deviance which sucks. Having said that, Finn does have a sympathetic backstory of being homeless after being used and betrayed by his father in his own drug business and I do believe he does want to make life better for his friends. Also the way that him being pansexual specifically is explained in the game is a very accurate portrayal. When Sean asks him who he likes Finn replies with "I don't see gender, I see people", which shows that Finn is genderblind when it comes to his orientation which has always been a pretty good way of explaining what being pan is like. I appreciate Finn for being overt Pansexual rep, the only dude pansexual rep as well and he is a likeable character overall even if his romance path carries some problematic implications when you compare it to the same sex option with Cassidy.

1. Mae Borowski (Night in the Woods)

One of the best protagonists from one of my favourite games. I love how nonconforming Mae is in every sense of the word. She's openly queer and refuses to conform to societies gender expectations. She's a cool cat person who plays bass in a band with her friends. Always speaks her mind, does what she wants and is unapologetically herself. Also an incredibly nice person at heart even if her bluntness and inability to read the room sometimes leads to some not great situations. A heavily flawed but still amazing character. She also happens to be pan which is very accurately portrayed throughout the story which I wrote a post about. To summarize, she explicitly states in one scene that she doesn't care about the gender of a person but she just wants to date someone that is tough and cool and "GRRR." There's a bunch of other stuff that she says throughout the game but it's also revealed that she has an ex who is a guy named Cole and she develops intimate feelings for a girl she meets at a party known as "Bombshell." Mae is an amazing character who I deeply relate to on a lot of levels and also admire for her ability to be herself and not care what other people think.

Picture sources

Mae Borowski - yorunowaltz on Tumblr

Finn McNamara - all ya faves are gay, matey on Tumblr

Sadie Miller - editsteven on Tumblr

Rose Quartz - Your Fave Loves And Supports LGBT+ People on Tumblr

Willow Park - (1) Daily LGBTQ+ Characters on Tumblr

[eye-of-yelough]

I saw a few of your posts about Gortash that were super interesting. I know that there are a ton of themes of sa throughout the entire game with Wyll and Mizora, Astarion's whole situation, Gale and Mystra, etcetera.

I feel like some of these themes were handled better in some characters than in others. Like the fact that you never really get to address Wyll's trauma from Mizora, and the fact that he can't really get his happy ending away from her because he needs her to save his father. It kinda sucks I think. I feel like there should be more demand for Wyll content but that's not why I'm here.

I hate when fandoms take genuinely flawed and sometimes awful male characters and simplify and justify all their horrible actions. Then genuinely flawed but complex and interesting female characters get treated like dirt.

I am a huge fan of Lae'zel. She is literally just trying to get these random people she met to a hospital (against gith protocol), she's young, she's scared, she's desperate, and she is still doing everything she can to help in the only way she was taught.

I am also a fan of Gortash. He's an arms dealer, a war profiter, a slaver, a dictator. He's sewing bigotry in the public by ordering refugees to be kept out. Most refugees being tieflings, and him encouraging that bias with media control. The fact that he had the families of his workers kept in a secret prison and had them all where bomb collars. This man is one of the most evil people in fiction. I don't like him because of his actions, I like him because he's interesting, and we never really get truly terrible people as villains very often anymore. That line of "how far can we take this. how deep into deplorable do we as writers venture" is super cool to explore in fiction.

Fiction. They are not real. They do not reflect the fans' values or opinions. You are allowed to like and hate characters at the same time because humans are complex, and stories are fake.

Anyway, all this to say, your takes have been super cool to consider within the general themes of the entire game. I know a major theme of bg3 is whether or not the player breaks the cycle of abuse or perpetuates it. I have played a tav twice and a durge 8 times, so it's safe to say I enjoy a complex internal struggle of morals versus impulse :) Your take on gortash stringing durge along was a really awesome theme that I hadn't considered before. I was mostly examining the dark urge's pov when it came to durgetash shit. I really loved the agony of a duty so ingrained into durge that is was more than instincts, more than religion, more than purpose, but something that was the very fiber of his existence, and that being disrupted by the fact that he dared to be a person at all and have wants of his own outside his lord and father's will.

Ok this is too long. I like your headcannon :P

THANK YOU AND ALSO YOU’RE SO RIGHT AND ALSO BE MY FRIEND FOREVER PLEASE AND THANKYOU⁉️

[clementineskesh]

okay palisade 27 thoughts

Lots happening this episode!!

MOTIONNNNN!!! Huge fan of motion coming back. The motion scream appearing since the beginning, the motion engines....even back in partizan, it always felt like she was meant to come back, and i LOVE how this is being done. the images were so good.

I like Dust! I like Occam Olio. I like the Us doppelgangers and "they are not dead. they do not leave the tunnels."

Seeing Jesset again also makes me sooooo happy thats my BOY i am jesset fan numero UNO and unfortunately he did get his ass kicked completely but he was cute while he did it and badass.

Elle showing up was beyond exciting! i love to see her!!!

"no one's PRO-Motion" Art has NOT been speaking to my mutuals

Longer thoughts: The big narrative swings (not talking lucia (which i love also) bc that was last ep) were SO cool i love how immediately invested art got in the motion clock, im obsessed with the choices, jesset being put in mortal peril was honestly very fun for me (tragedy enjoyer who loves to mourn their faves)

it really is brutal how authority sweeps every faction turn. on the one hand, I think there is a really good sense of weight and scale here; the authoritarian rulers of a whole planet are not weak and easily toppled, it would be worse if they were always getting beat.

On the other hand, I don't love the way they're going about it. Art backing away from Occam having a character moment SPECIFICALLY because he didn't want to roll and lose a pillar (especially in comparison to keith rolling when he didn't need to duing the stellar combustor arc) was so disappointing. it just felt like a worse story and less fun play. I did not like that at all.

Even though the sense of "the authority is huge and complex and every victory will be a struggle" is good to me and i prefer it, it kind of sucks to feel like the blue channel only faction that DOES anything (even baseline/violet cove mission was mostly a success even though they took the baseline L) Like gucci saying "what do you think we do all day?" girl i think they had your number!! you people are seeming pretty unhelpful!!! i would like it if not just Our Heroes but the entire organization were pulling their weight.

The final thing that occurred to me during the first conflict with jade kill and then got solidified later with art is i think its a huge problem that Hexagon doesnt have more named characters. Blank Shore and Occam Olio and SIlverbrick, the attendants of Gentian, all the higher ups of the Bilats, they have all gotten screen time and exploration and interest from the players. By contrast, most of the named Hexagon members pre-exist the faction games, and they are a lot less fleshed out. The twilight mirage character jack mentioned didnt even get a name. they dont care about them, and we have no one To care about.

So i think in the end i like all the narrative turns this took in terms of big swings and choices, but the energy is leaving me feeling kind of disappointed and uninvested in the individual dice rolls and events and attempts. like i enjoy what they do with the outcomes, but getting to the outcomes this week felt pretty :/ I just wish they would care about the cause too!!! i like what they do with authority but i like the cause and i feel like we dont know them at ALL!

our one former exception was baldwin home who was an outside perspective who deepened the connection a lot, and now he's dead, so like, they've all just become pieces on a board instead of people.

[poopyballz28]

Okay, before I ask the question, I just want to tell you that your posts are the best, dude. Like, my fucking god, they make me feel so much better after a shitty day, so thank you for existing on here, genuinely. For the question, do you have a ranked top five list for favorite + least favorite Baki characters?

(Though, I think I can already tell who your number one in favorites is, lol ᐠ( ᐛ )ᐟ)

BRO THANK YOU. ACTUALLY POWER TO YOU 💯 I'm glad my stupid goofy writings and posts are able to lighten people's day. Thank you.

Now to answer your question :D I kinda yapped so lemme put it under a cut

My number one? Guess. Guess who my number one is, guys. You'll never be able to get it. It's fine if you need a hint.

Okay, you got me it's Kiyosumi. Sigh. I love him. Sadly. Something about his character, personality and design just have me in a choke hold. He's just so neat. Not to mention how much I just relate to him as a person, it's quite strange, but I see some of myself in him. I don't particularly want to go into deep detail but something about him I really resonate with. He's funny. He will always be my top number one stunnaboy. I'm proud to be his number one fan.

My second favorite has always been Katsumi, he's just a goober. I'm in love with his character arc and his silly attitude and god do I want my face in between those breasts. But in all seriousness he's an amazing character and Itagaki's writing for him is immaculate, just objectively. He's one of the best written characters in the series, along with Retsu. (In my opinion, of course.) His recent blow up in popularity really surprised me, and made me a bit jealous, to be real. I dunno, I feel like people don't truly appreciate his writing, you know? Maybe it's just me.

See, now here's where I start to struggle. A lot of my favorite characters before those two, I can't really rank (I love them too much equally) But I will definitely list them!

I'm really enamored by Kozue, especially lately. One of my favorite types of characters are kind, cute girls who kinda just be silly but have some lowkey depth behind them. It's my absolute favorite. I've always been a fan of anime's/games where girls are just hanging out or having fun with each other, I love it. I'm always thinking about Kozue being in Bang dream or D4DJ, man.

Doyle...sigh. What a mess this guy is, but that's why he's up in my favorites. He gives me gender envy, even though, I'm already a guy. Maybe it's just his ability to rock both or his beauty, I don't know. But his character is absolutely stellar to me. Super interesting to write things for. He's so complex in my mind, he's just a joy to think about.

Doppo is definitely high up there on my list of favorites. He's absolutely hilarious and such a cool character. He's genuinely one of the most badass in the series to me. I love his hidden kindness and love for his kids (karate boys) and pupils. He's just incredible and MAD funny. Love him.

Kosho, this makes sense because he's basically gothic Kiyosumi. I mean not actually, I'm being funny, but you get the idea. They are definitely similar though. He's an incredible character, I love his sassiness and whole demeanor and not to mention his backstory and depth. Love this Vkei guy forever.

Ahh, Retsu, how I love you. His character is probably one of my favorite written in manga. The fact he's somewhat a mediator and very mature, but also immensely immature as well, doing things he knows aren't right to please himself cause he just loves FIGHTING. Ohhh, there's so much depth to him it's incredible. I just love this guy.

If I were to list my other favorites...

Atsushi, Chiharu, Oliva, Shibukawa, Tokugawa, Kureha, Spec, JEEZ do I love the characters in this manga. The list kind of goes on too. I just can't get enough of these guys.

It's very difficult for me to rank my least favorites since I really enjoy all of these characters, but one I really dislike is...Yujiro. Man, does that guy suck. For real. Okay but let me preface this by saying I think his written character is great, it's wonderful. But him, I hate. He's such a backwards piece of garbo. He's honestly one of the character's I think about the least.

Other than that, nobody else really comes to mind. Sorry I love these goober mcgoobersons too much. Itagaki, thank you as always.

Thank you for the question as well, bro.

[fyodior]

⟡ KAL x FYODOR ⟡

↬ fyodor. absolutely unequivocally indisputably fyodor

↬ some of this is gonna be based off more of me knowing u as a person and not entirely just your request if thats ok teehee

↬ one thing abt you kal is that you are honest. you value honesty and truth pretty highly, and are very steadfast in your beliefs. you're not necessarily stubborn per say, just that you know what you believe and value and that isn't easily swayed. i believe this is a nonnegotiable for fedya in any relationship romantic, platonic, or otherwise. he needs someone who he knows will stick by his side from the beginning to the end and he can gauge that pretty early on. while you may see yourself as closed off, with a little time its not difficult to see the kinds of things you prioritize in your life. fedya specifically can read you like a book, and while it may take a while to develop fully, he is able to place his full and entire trust in you. he knows you won't betray him

↬ both of you have the very similar quiet, drawn-back type of personality where you highly value peace and tranquility. the two of you could very easily exist in comfortable silence without feeling obligated to keep each other "entertained". you very easily just coexist

↬ you're also both observers. you think a lot before you act, and are often just in your own head.

↬ what im getting at here is that you have very similar personalities in the ways that matter and would lend to a very healthy and easy relationship. things never feel strained and you understand each other well

↬ philosophy/theology/history/military are you just reading from the fyodor wiki page /j you guys could have conversations for hours and hours about your many overlapping interests. i dont think you'd necessarily agree about every little thing but you'd have healthy debates and i think you'd both expand your world views and beliefs a lot

↬ you share a love of literature, again something you could discuss and bond over

↬ you have the most unpredictable opinions sometimes you'd really keep him interested and on his toes he would be fascinated by you in a very positive way

↬ in ways beyond what i can explain i just know he'd have very deep respect and admiration for you as a person, your intelligence/wisdom, and your actions

↬ you both struggle a lot with affection. for fyodor im sure it is a completely foreign concept to him that he has never experienced. i think this is a bit of a double edged sword because it doesnt mean one of you is feeling neglected in that way but it might be difficult for you guys to develop a fitting dynamic if that makes sense

↬ share your fondness for nature with him please he so desperately needs to experience the outdoors and the sun he is so lacking in vitamin D

↬ you are fucking hilarious and you'd put a very much needed and crooked smile on his face. ur probably one of the only people who'd ever hear him laugh

↬ as i feel like you do in real life with his character, you'd have a deep and complex understanding of him that no one else does. he feels heard and understood and accepted by you in ways that he's never experienced before

↬ he also probably has mommy issues. your mommy kink would not be neglected

↬ you complement each other in a lot of complex ways, way beyond a surface level matchup

↬ kiss him and suck his dick for me pls im a little bit jealous of your compatibility

@hnnnnnnnm

[hazelcephalopod]

So I like Buddie. I think it’s neat. I think it makes sense. I think the show should actually just do it. However, I have to say, at this point I also think it’s just going to be queerbaiting -as far as show canon goes plz continue to ship and fanfic away- but I’ve seen this so many times before. I know, the show has queer characters, the spin off has several, but that does not make it immune from queerbaiting. It’s one of the most watched shows on the network, many people watch this but don’t really interact with the fandom and sadly most of them are probably straight and can just… not see it. Idk how, but they exist. So, personally I think it’s just queerbaiting —b/c I don’t think they are going to do it and even potentially risk their audience dipping because people suck and they are cowards.

That said I’m bored so plz continue if you want to read my various contradictory musing hc on this ship. B/c when you recognize the show probably won’t do it you can really just go wherever with it*.

Disclaimer: uh, kinda only partly organizing this and just spitting out thoughts tbh.

However, within fandom I’ve got more to say, mainly “what are the various ways we can interpret this relationship and what it is?” So, let’s get out of the box! The box being the standard mlm ship, b/c the allosexual/romantic monogamous ship is great, I like it just fine and go for it! However, I think equally valid is reading it as ace/aro could also be interesting. (You could also go poly but I don’t really get much into that here?)

Because tbh, they are characters anything goes, s/x it takes people a long time to figure this stuff out. Sometimes they repress it for years, and so on. Sometimes they don’t have the language to express these things until they do. Which, I mean just look at them, either could totally be like “hey wait that’s what sexual attraction is? Huh. I need to go learn some things” or even “romance is what now? Hmm I need to go learn some things.” I could easily read Buck as ace, because even tho he’s had a lot of sex it’s easily read as he is just chasing pleasure and something to do, he’s just like “yea sure I guess that’s fun” and when he’s asked so you like them he’s like “well we had sex so I have to right?” Or how both are just trying to fill the role society expects of them as men. Aromantic? Both of them seem uninterested in the relationships they enter, it’s more the mechanics of “well that person was there and everyone seemed to think it made sense so I guess?” At least not much more interested than friendships. There are so many options those are just some examples. However this does not answer the shipping portion, which isn’t necessary but I did set up the expectation and I shall endeavor to meet it.

Now of course ace/aro people can just date (or not, but again we aren’t here for that, plz explore if you wish) -there are spectrums and also, people are complex. They can be in non traditional relationships like QPR’s, or even not really formalizing that. People can get married because they are just like “you’re great and marriage has benefits”, or even just move in together b/c it is cheaper -and they like the company. With this ships there is the child angle, which can set up all sorts of stories. So plz, go wild with that too.

*I say this because, it decreases the attachment to a singular idea or way things should play out when you just give up on that.

Ps. tbh makes me a little sad that the wider population isn’t aware of aro/ace people b/c it would open up so many interesting stories. Buddie (or even though this isn’t the topic them alone!) could be a great example of this b/c look at them!

[autumn-foxfire]

(Continue.)

The second thing haunting me is when I wonder if "Touya" is spilling into present-day Dabi. That's the other thing I tried so hard to reject. He can work on being Touya again when he's saved, but for it to have been Dabi all this time, where's the villain? Was every single instance of the League of Villain's justified and kind, even if just to themselves? Were the heroes wrong at every step? Really sucks when empathy for one character clashes with your feelings of the story and other characters. If Dabi could just divert from this path, for him to…not be kind or empathetic, that could give me peace because he won't be fully me I can accept our similar origin, I cannot accept a complete manifestation of a dark future that hasn't happened because I don't wish for it to, to exist in him. Stop taking all my personality traits! I need you to be a true villain! I don't want to feel for you, I can't think of you as good, I cannot accept you as being a friend to others or understanding-

Whether he's saved by Endeavor and gets his closure or ends up dying, I'm gonna be seriously going through it…it's like Dabi's character through the manga and the fandom's reaction to him is growing up with me over the years because whoo, unwanted Dabi Feelings: Electric Boogaloo, why am I here again. I just managed to not be squicked out by jokes of Rei dragging Touya by the ear, but maybe they should do that instead because Rei is just different enough that it'll be less mentally distressing than seeing Endeavor's feelings towards his first-born…I could spin that into making Touya more neutral towards Rei because sure he can like her on some days, not like her on others, I dislike it when he cares as much as Shouto, and closing your heart after hurt is easier than watching it waver from softness which I just KNOW Endeavor is gonna do.

Sigh.

Sure complex characters end up leading to more complex feelings about the media you're reading, but ig it makes it well-written? Sometimes you have to throw your hands up and say "I can't call this a hero vs villain story anymore, Hori is just writing a manga about the consequences of every single type of abuse out there and he hid all this inside a falsely advertised cutesy superhero highschool story" nobody is bad! They're all hurting, and the years, the decades, of it is spilling out in this one generation, in this one moment, all in this one final war.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

If a character is all bad with no qualities that can redeem them, they end up being characters that the audience can't get behind. AFO is an example of this, Hori hasn't shown us a sympathetic past for him when he could (quirk discrimination for emerging quirks for example) or even with his attachment to his brother being something deeper but he hasn't (though that has yet to be determined too as he is still at this point writing his story).

If you want to redeem your villains, it has a greater impact when the audience can connect to them. It's why the backstories of the LOVs make the fandom divided. They're doing horrible things but they do have their reasons. They're selfish reasons and the harm they cause others is terrible but as a human we can still understand how they reached that point and that's the point.

Especially if the character acts as a mirror and shows you all these hidden parts and feelings of yourself. The most amazing thing with fiction is that is can show you the ugly side of yourself, the anger and the jealousy, the desire to hurt others (even if you'll never go through with it) like you've been hurt and it can strip you raw. It sounds like Dabi is that character for you.

It's understandable why you'd be uncomfortable with jokes like that in this regard because Dabi isn't just a character, he's a substitute for yourself in that moment, a way to express yourself in a healthy way.

I wouldn't say no one is bad though, as that is too dismissive of the harm that the villains have done at this point. Dabi and the villains, as sympathetic as they are have caused so much harm to the world around them as they lashed out. They've involved innocents into this war, men, woman, children, victims who suffered just as much as they have. This is the consequence of lashing out in such a toxic way, how it goes beyond a cry to help to a blade that cuts down anyone who could try to.

What's the point of crying out to crowd for help after all when you've just murdered them all?

[kaz-oooo]

So I wanted to update you guys on my plans regarding my fics thanks to this entire situation that’s unfolded. If you don’t know what’s going on I already answered an ask about it so *heres* the context. Now I’m not going to mention him by name on this post because 1) I don’t think he needs anymore attention and more importantly 2) this post solely exists to let my readers know what’s going on, this isn’t really about him.

So tl;dr, I am not deleting anything, I am not abandoning anything, but I am taking a bit of a break.

So… I have quite a lot of complex and weird feelings about this situation. I’m very frustrated and sick by what I’ve learned over the past few days but at the same time I find a lot of joy and comfort in this fandom and with these characters. I’ve been in a pretty shitty headspace for the past couple days because of this, I’ve been upset about the news (and other unrelated shit) and struggling to find proper comfort since a lot of it felt poisoned.

I decided to step back from fandom and social media for the weekend and clear my head a bit and that has certainly helped me quite a lot. Something I was struggling a lot with was fanfiction — writing is very important to me, I write a LOT, it’s something I enjoy, but more importantly it’s always been an outlet for me to work through my personal bullshit. It sucks having all my work attached to his name and it was one of the things that was upsetting me the most.

During this little break I’ve come to a few conclusions. I have always written about characters and not creators. After the last bout of shitty creators doing shitty things Tommy made a comment about DSMP no longer belonging to the creators and basically handed it over to reclaim as our own. And most importantly this fandom, these characters, and all this silly little fanfiction I’ve written about them has brought me a lot of joy and I refuse to let the actions of a shitty man ruin that for me!!

So… what does that mean for my fics??

Firstly, nothing will be deleted. For all the aforementioned reasons, plus the fact I put a lot of hard work into creating those fics, and because I know there are people out there who still enjoy them. We’ve had enough comfort media pulled out from under our feet already, I refuse to take anything else away from you guys!!

I am going to go on a bit of a hiatus, I still have some stuff I need to work out in my own head. Regarding any unfinished fics.. I have absolutely no intentions to abandon them! Things like “From the Depths” and “Another Day, Another Heist” are very close to completion and idk.. I hate the idea of getting so close to the finish line and just not completing them! The “As Above” series is my absolute pride and joy and THIS is the one thing I refuse to let him ruin for me. I put a lot of effort into the story, the world building, the mystery, and of course the characters, the outline alone took me months to craft, and I’ve spent nearly over a year total working on it, I’ve put in a lot of work and I am going to see it through to the end!!! (Also “escape by any means” is near and dear to my heart, I won’t abandon her either!)

I think how we move forwards regarding this situation and what we decide to do is all up to the individual. This is how I want to move forwards, but if you feel uncomfortable participating in this fandom anymore, or reading about this character, or anything like that then that’s totally fine. Take some time for yourselves, figure out where you want to go from here, and at the end of it all I hope you find something that makes you happy and brings you comfort — it’s what we all deserve.

That’s all from me for now. Go share the love with other authors, artists and creators. The anger and hatred always seems to prevail in these conversations, and while I understand why we feel that anger (I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel the same way) I think it’s important we support each other as a community and uplift those who’ve been hurt.