#just saying he also shares similar traits to another character I really like

[slasherstation]

I hate when people just water down like falin as like a “female version” of laios. Like they’re similar but not the same. Like i feel like it’s such a disservice to her character lowkey. It’s like characters can’t exist without their interactions with laios or laios in general. They both have autism but their traits manifested in two different. They can both be calm and gentle but laios is more direct and extroverted compared to falin.

It’s very true that they’re treated differently when they both have autistic traits and are seen as differently. Which is ironic since they both ARE similar. However i hate that people say she’s just a female version of her brother or like act like she’s toshiro/shuro’a manic pixie dream girl. Like why can’t she exist by herself without her relationship with men/being compared to her male brother.

It IS weird how he dislikes laios and not falin when they’re both autistic. However he relates more to falin which is why he liked her more. They’re both more reserved and aren’t open about their feelings. Also they share the same interest of bugs which is another reason why he liked her. The anime didn’t really do well showing that which sucks.

I completely understand what people mean but at the same time I feel like calling them the exact same person isn’t true. Especially when the way they interact with characters say so much different.

[mewkwota]

I think a part of why I find Hub so cool is how he seems to be one that won't hold back in a fight. These sketches don't even scratch the surface on what I mean, but he has this certain feel on the battlefield.

(. . . Hey Mew, I think the word you're looking for is "violent".)

Whatever the case, I wanted to draw more battle scenes with him.

[general-cyno]

it's dressrosa time for more zolu rambles. there were some really good and funny bits like zoro being (unsurprisingly) on board with luffy's idea of fighting the emperors

luffy charging right after zoro when he gets his sword stolen bc it looks fun (though he ends up in the tournament instead)

zoro getting absolutely sidetracked from his very important mission of going back to the sunny to help the others bc he saw luffy participating in the tournament, then again when he saw luffy in person (he wanted to be invited too!)

luffy happily and without hesitation agreeing to zoro's crazy plan for the lift

cheers to luffy's casual, unwavering faith in zoro!

zoro just letting luffy do whatever he wants and manhandle him around with a simple "yeah sure where we going" compared to law who is decidedly Not Even Remotely Used to this kind of treatment

their gremlin braincell once again shining through as they both laugh at pica (much to law's continuous exasperation)

I also liked how confidently luffy decided and told zoro he'd continue ahead while zoro chose to stay behind and deal with pica, yet again demonstrating luffy's casual but firm trust that zoro can handle things and protect others in his stead, while he takes care of the biggest threats. zoro's own taunting and smug "our captain wants nothing to do with a pebble like you, so you have to make do with me" at pica was good too lol.

when zoro finally defeats pica and side characters, in awe of his strength, are baffled that someone so powerful is luffy's "henchman"? also peak.

two other things I enjoyed, albeit not necessarily involving zoro and luffy directly, were:

- zoro taking the lead, attempting to stop doflamingo's birdcage by force and doing so by asking for ppl's help (showcasing his willingness to guide as much as rely on others when it's needed) which drove folks to actively follow him in a similar fashion to how they tend to do with luffy. in a way, zoro's determination uplifted ppl's spirits + the whole thing helped keep civilians and others safe while luffy recuperated enough to finish off doflamingo. it's no wonder zoro was one of the few straw hats to stay behind in dressrosa, since that's the kind of feat someone like him (as luffy's first mate/second in command) can accomplish. really highlights zoro's role in the crew and why luffy's belief in zoro's reliability, of him being able to handle dire situations and protect ppl on his own without luffy having to worry abt/over him is a recurring and important part of their overall relationship. usopp desperately asking zoro to save him back during the pica ordeal and hugging him afterwards in relief as other characters thanked him too, was a funny and sweet way to acknowledge this as well.

- this interaction between luffy and rebecca:

can't say whether it was intentional or not, (probably not since these chapters are wildly apart from each other) but it made me think of luffy and zoro's first meeting, and how luffy ultimately decided to make zoro part of his crew after he asked to be fed the stomped riceballs and for luffy to tell rika they were delicious. these two are so very similar on a fundamental level, even if they still retain certain differences and distinct approaches depending on the situation, and it was nice to see another reminder of it. both luffy and zoro are, at their core, strong and kind characters (though in a curiously selfish manner) who don't hesitate to acknowledge and repay the kindness they're offered in turn. imo it's cool how these shared traits have allowed them to understand and stay alongside each other to this point.

edit: forgot to mention but sabo entrusting the crew with luffy's safety and giving them luffy's vivre card (handing it to zoro specifically) as zoro fondly remarks how he resembled ace back in alabasta was just. really really good as well. esp when you consider how much the crew loves luffy, and what zoro himself has done to protect him.

[ashironie]

I don’t have a good feeling about Celia

I tried to post this earlier but it got deleted so fuck

But from so many standpoints she just irks me

-She has the same character archetype as Alice. Many have pointed out their similarities and while this by itself isn’t much (as is everything on this list) with everything else it makes me weirded out

-She just came out of the blue. We had no warning in the episodes before no build up. We were introduced to the concept she was coming and then she came with little fanfare.

-Her introduction to the rest of the cast is a lot different than Sam’s. A lot understated. Maybe Jonny and Alex just didn’t want to do the same thing again but it felt really rushed and weird.

-I cannot see how she can possibly contribute to the plot in any meaningful way if she is just another victim coworker. She was introduced too late to have her death feel like anything but fridging (when you make a character just to kill them for momentary character drama), once again she shares a character archetype with Alice so the only thing that they could give Celia could be given to Alice perfectly fine, and she once again feels forced

-Celia was also too comfortable too quick for me. She just instantly trusted none of her coworkers would report her for talking shit about their boss. She seemed too genuine about everything even though she was in a completely new environment. And she was just so laid back with everything, like sure she might not know the full scale of things but she seems like she’s been their for as long as anyone can remember (something that might be due to the fact I associate this trait with Alice who has been there a long time)

-idk if I’m reaching or going crazy with this one but Alice seemed off. She moreso just said “I’m Alice” and and Aliced all over the place. But as soon as Celia left she said ‘yeah’ sorta suspiciously? Maybe I’m crazy. Then she’s back to herself replying to Gwen, who we can assume is only less interested in what Celia has to say due to the situation she’s found herself in during ep 4 was it? with Lena. The only time we really get to know her thoughts about Celia when she isn’t in front of her is when she’s bugging Sam about his crush on her, and also literally all conversation she has with Celia she also has with Sam and shifts the conversation (aside from just meeting Celia) to Sam (imo). The only time we get her opinions on Celia away from other characters is the little ‘yeah’.

-We don’t see Colin’s reaction to Celia either, which would mark the third episode in a row where Colin is only mentioned (to my knowledge). Though we don’t have any mention that he’s been hostile to her. The only characters that truly talk to her and that we can see their reactions to her are Alice and Sam. One who I’m convinced is suspicious of her and the other who’s ’in love’ with her (I was completely caught off guard by this due to not even thinking about any of that in the very beginnings of a horror podcast, I’m autistic and demiromantic, and because I was half listening the first time I listened. I sense it more but it still feels like a stretch to me before Alice mentions it though makes a lot of sense due to Sam’s reaction to her mentioning it)

-I feel like I’d be amiss to not mention the fact this is the episode we truly have an Avatar in it. Needles is the first avatar we tma enjoyers know as an avatar (in Norris’s statement in ep1 we have the maybe scammer but it’s unclear weather that’s an Avatar, someone being possessed, or something else entirely). Thematically, this would be a great way to establish a connection with Avatar and Celia. She was introduced exactly when Avatars were. Also the episode name could also be a reference to the fact we are having our “introductions” to Avatars thought this episode, but that’s unrelated.

-People has also pointed out Celia is in Tma, same name and same voice actress (so no Michael situation or helen and Mel’s therapist situation [I think I remember them having the same voice actress and that being a problem] here). Although I don’t know what the could mean but that’s actually the reason I decided to rewrite this mini-notsomini-rant.

I could be wrong about all of this and am prepared to be wrong but still, needed to get this out there.

[overthinkthis]

transmasc feelings about The Sign ep. 6

I might be a little late with this but I finally realised that while most fandom discourse isn't really my thing, what I do love is reading why shows or certain characters or even a single scene make people feel a lot of things (especially when I personally don't relate to it that much). And The Sign has me sooo deep in my trans feelings, I need to share some of that.

Other people have already pointed out how Tharn can be read as a trans man, having been a princess in another life. And he's short (compared to the others). I know, not all trans men are short, but I am, so it's a trait that always helps me identify with a character.

The main thing though and the reason I'm writing this is his struggle for agency. Because in my experience, the first point of attack on trans men is exactly our agency. We're told we're just naive, confused (autistic) little girls, seduced by the patriachy to reject our own femininity. Victims of our own internalised misogony. That we can't be trusted to make our own decisions, that we need to be 'protected' by being denied our bodily autonomy.

And the way people treat Tharn feels so similar to this. Everyone is pushing him, everyone acts like they know better whether he should date Phaya and even when it comes from a good place (like with Yai) or can be seen as harmless banter, it's still a lot. And then we get the scene where Phaya punches Chalothorn and Tharn punches Phaya and I know this scene is controversial, but I love it! I don't want to comment on how well this worked in the context of the show but as an isolated scene I find it deeply cathartic to watch.

Chalothorn says he will do everything to keep Tharn from Phaya. Even if Tharn has to die.

I know it's because I'm biased but this oozes "I'd rather have a dead child/partner than a trans child/partner"-energy to me. And he gets punched for saying that! Obvs don't punch people irl if you can avoid it but seeing Phaya shut him down like that immediately was so satisfying to watch. Seeing the rage on Phaya's face alone, the same rage I feel for everyone trying to push people back into the suicidality of the closet for their own comfort, is just cathartic.

But then! Tharn punches Phaya and that is... bad, isn't it? Honestly, not to me. Phaya isn't just being a little bit pushy here, it is not the same situation as in ep 3 where Phaya also pushes boundaries but we see Tharn happily agree to the sparring match.

No, in this situation Tharn clearly states what he wants and Phaya ignores that and tries to forcefully drag Tharn away. We know that Phaya has his reasons. As an audience we know that trusting Chalothorn is the wrong choice but it is still Tharn's decision to make!

He punches Phaya and in that moment he takes back his agency, he asserts his boundaries and he isn't being punished for that. Phaya doesn't try to guilt-trip him later, he accepts that he was wrong in trying to force Tharn to come with him. This is also the reason why I don't mind Phaya persuing Tharn with such vigor, because this scene shows us that he will back off if Tharn really needs him to, and that he won't hold a grudge for being rejected. (yeah, again, don't punch people irl, but this is a tv series, it should speak to the parts of our brain that respond better to powerful images than logical reasoning)

And another nice thing this episode gives us is the scene with Yai afterwards. He still get in Tharn's business but instead of just acting like he knows what Tharn needs, he asks questions and then offers his own perspective and his support.

Because this is how you help someone in this kind of situation. Not by trying to tell them what to do (come out, stay in the closet, transition, not transition... if we stay with my trans analogy), but by telling them you will be there when things get rough. And that the thing you really want for them is to be happy.

[yan-lorkai]

hii:3

I've been reading some of your posts and i absolutely love it!!!

Anyway this ask might be a little similar to the one where the mc loves biting the obey me brothers

Can you do one with the obey me bros where the mc has very sharp teeth like a shark? Also it doesn't have to be everyone but i especially want leviathan and satan<3

(I have a feeling i made this too long..😭)

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ A/N: Mc with sharp teeths, my beloved. I actually remembered Kirishima from Bnha when reading this lol, he was such a sweetheart and his little teeth were so cute 😭🥺. Also don't worry darling, it's not that long and even if it was, I don't care! I hope you like this!

Satan

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Your shark-like teeth were always a point of fascination among the demons of Devildom, they used to love looking at your mouth and got a vision of your precious teeths. It wasn't an everyday occurrence that a human had sharp teeths like yours, a trait shared with so many demons. However, it was Satan who found himself inexplicably drawn to this unique feature of yours.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Satan couldn't help but delve deeper into understanding the biology and significance behind them, he likes looking at it and he always wondered how would feel if he kissed you. Would the sharpness be enough to hurt his tongue? Do the sharpness hurt your mouth by the way? He got to know everything that is to know, though he do thinks you are so cute with sharp teeths.

⠀

Levi

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ While Satan's attention is gradually caught up with you, Levi's is the opposite. The moment you open your mouth to say anything, even if it's not even him you're talking to, he notices your teeth and he's enchanted. Your teeth, as sharp as a shark's, remind him of his many favorite characters from animes and games and he automatically associates you with them, it's love at first sight.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ As your friendship blossomed into something deeper, Levi came to cherish your unique trait as just another endearing aspect of who you are. Your teeth it's not the only thing he likes about it, in fact he could make a 30 pages powerpoint of things he love about you, he could rank 100 different things. He loves you a lot. And he also may or may not want you to bite him with those beautiful teeths of yours.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Despite the acceptance you found with Satan and Levi, sometimes you wished you had normal teeth. People used to make fun of you because of it, either because they were jealous or because was too different from the normal they were used to. Though Satan and Levi helped you overcome these doubts when they found out about it.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Saying again but Levi would really make a long and convincing powerpoint about it and Satan would fight your enemies. And then they both would do things you like to make you feel happy and loved, and if you want to spend time only with one of them, that's ok too.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Levi's gonna show you his favorite characters who inspire him to be better and do better, and tell you how beautiful and cool you are. You may or may not cuddle as well as he tries to rebuild your self esteem and tries to make you smile and laugh more.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Satan by the way relies more on his words to convince you that what he's saying is the absolutely truth, he has no reason to lie after all - even if he had a reason, he wouldn't. He genuinely like you and it's quite rare for him to truly like someone. Though he also praises you more everytime you smile and laugh in his presence, enough to make you flustered and giddy.

[xaharadesert]

MC’s Familiar Having a Crush on LI’s Familiar - Headcanon

Arcana Characters (Main 6 + Familiars)

A/N: another poll winner! The request for this one specifically asked for the reactions of the LIs and their familiars, so it doesn’t really fall into “x MC” territory :) also, I’m leaving the species of MC’s familiar purposefully vague, but with the assumption that it’s not the same species as LI’s! Please let me know if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes!

TW: swearing in Lucio’s section

❤️Julian❤️

As a man of science, he has many questions

Are relationships between different species common in the magical world? Does a “crush” indicate that familiars have a similar level of sentience to humans? Is this an innate trait, or something that manifests as a result of magic?

The temptation to launch a scientific investigation is strong in this situation, but he restrains himself

It feels immoral to toy around with love, even if he doesn’t really understand it

However, that means that he’ll be supporting this crush from both the standpoint of a friend and a scientist

🌑Malak🌑

He had never really thought about romance before

Most of his time was spent bothering people and collecting shiny things, and he was content with that life

So finding out that another creature had a crush on him was an odd experience, to say the least

Not to mention that it was someone he already knew, and shared a strong connection with

He thinks he might give it a try. He won’t be sharing his collection of shiny things, though

🧡Portia🧡

Immediately thinks it’s the cutest thing to ever happen

100% supportive, no matter the species difference

Gives your familiar the shovel talk (Pepi is her baby, after all)

Makes all the classic parent jokes about keeping the door open

After making that joke, she sits in silence and contemplates the reality of the relationship, and now also has many questions

Will not be asking them though; might ask Julian about it later

🐈Pepi🐈

Embarrassed by her mother, which is difficult to achieve, given that she is a cat and feels no shame

When she finds out about the crush, she just kind of shrugs it off

It makes sense, after all; she is a cat, and cats are perfect

If the crush seems serious, then she’s willing to reciprocate

Probably would not be the best partner— she prefers to spend her time napping in the sun, so if your familiar is high energy then it might not work out

💛Lucio💛

What the fuck

Like, genuinely, what the fuck

I mean, he’s not really one to judge, given his own weird tastes

But, like, really? How the fuck does that happen?

Thinks his dog(s) can do better than your familiar, and makes this well-known

🐾Mercedes OR Melchior🐾

Makes perfect sense to him— he would fall in love with himself too

Not really interested in reciprocating though: he is a very busy boy

Many squirrels to chase and bones to chew

May pursue a more dedicated friendship, though

And if he’s feeling generous, then he may share one of his toys with your familiar

💚Muriel💚

A bit hesitant at first

He’s a very reserved kind of man, and he really only has Inanna by his side all the time

So he doesn’t know how he feels about losing her to any degree

But if it makes her happy, then he’ll support it

After all, it’s your familiar, and he trusts you

🐺Inanna🐺

Really did not expect that

Immediately rejects the crush, partly out of panic, because she really doesn’t want anything to change

But over time, she realizes she might like something more with your familiar

Eventually, the crush is returned

Mostly, she truly feels comfortable with it when she realizes she will always have Muriel’s support

💙Asra💙

Makes perfect sense to him; he’s loved you for years, so it’s only natural that Faust would form a bond with your familiar as well

He thinks it’s really cute, and encourages them to spend time together

Sometimes jokes with Faust about her “snake charm”

As a bonus, your familiars spending time together means that the two of you can spend more time together as well

Most definitely plans double dates (platonic or romantic)

🐍Faust🐍

Faust had a crush on your familiar before they had a crush on her

So she’s delighted to see it’s returned!

Very enthusiastic about having a partner

If your familiar is larger, then she’s hitching a ride whenever they hang out

Very cuddly for a snake, especially if your familiar gives off body heat

💜Nadia💜

Keeps her thoughts to herself while she tries to understand how exactly your familiar can have a crush on hers

She doesn’t want to judge what she doesn’t understand, so she asks you a few questions about it

Once she gets the gist of it, she’s very supportive, and finds it rather cute

Keeps an eye on Chandra though, since she knows her familiar likes her personal space, and helps to enforce boundaries

Overall thinks it’s harmless fun

🦉Chandra🦉

Eh

She’s not into romance, and let’s your familiar down as easily as she can

Still wants to be friends, but needs her own space

She’s a very solitary creature, and she has no desire to change

Will still occasionally be more affectionate to your familiar when she sees that they’re feeling down

[transigma]

dazai/yosano character parallels analysis ★

includes: connection/past with Mori, themes of humanity, dehumanization, life/death, change, and Elise(?)

wc: 1.5k

Beginning with the most glaring similarity, they have a mutual connection with Mori as a mentor figure in their past. (I'm not sure if I would assign the “mentor” role to him for Yosano, but for the lack of a better word, that's what he will be called here </3). He represents an important part of their traumatic pasts but in different ways. I want to stress the importance of understanding that the two of them were abused in different ways because of how Mori himself regarded each of the two, and that this is not to say one was worse than the other. I would also like to negate any argument that Dazai was not abused by Mori, this is false. While that is another topic I want to discuss in the future, I just want to get that out there.

Both are victims of Mori's tactics of controlling abuse and were utilized as tools for his plans. Yosano was used for her ability, as she was useful under Mori's immortal soldier regiment, while Dazai was picked up with the intentions to mentor him as a future successor to Mori because of their shared traits (refer to the 15 quote provided, their “common destiny” is being the Port Mafia boss). The reason I say they are abused in different ways is because of the methods Mori enacts on the both of them. While I don't want to say he respects Dazai more as an individual because of that inherent fear he carries of Dazai, however, I'm not really sure what else to word it as. Dazai is able to carry out a lot of his own volition while under Mori in the Port Mafia, and while he was still in a horrible place under this treatment, he did have some level of freedom on his own because of the way Mori viewed him. Mori recognizes that: one, Dazai lacks morals at this point in his life, two, that he is not loyal to Mori and could take him out at any moment (I would argue that he expects it if anything), and three, that Dazai is an extremely intelligent child beyond his years. Since he recognizes all of these aspects, he still controls Dazai to the degree he acts to everyone else, but he also does not push Dazai too extremely. Of course this is not to say his abuse to Dazai was not harsh, I am trying to compare the way Mori treated Yosano vs Dazai, and how this has affected them individually, not by the severity of either. He noticeably treats Yosano harsher, and he does go as far as to lay a hand on her, in the form of grabbing her hair. While he is not a physically abusive person, instead using psychological methods more often, this is an example of the disregard he has for Yosano as an individual herself. She is diminished to her ability in his eyes, and Dazai is almost akin to a mirror in at least Mori's eyes. Both of these lead into my next point, the way both of them experience dehumanization.

Both Dazai and Yosano are, to some degree, seen as inhuman for their abilities and past sins. This can be seen in something as simple as the names they are given by others in their lives. They are the "Angel of Death" and the "Demon Prodigy." Both of these names assigned to them from those around them serve as stark reminders of their past wrongdoings, to which I will expand upon later. Yosano was essentially forced to play God with countless lives until she created her own undead hell, and this burdens her for the rest of her life. As a result of these events, even though it was not something under her control as an eleven year old child, she is viewed in a vicious light for her ability and involvement. Similarly, Dazai's humanity is disregarded by those around him because of his actions and behaviors, but most importantly, his nature. To follow a commonly stated metaphor in BSD, his blood is mafia black. During his time in the Port Mafia, Dazai racked up a laundry list of crimes, and the methods he used were seen as cruel even by Port Mafia standards. Of course, his actions are not justified by the fact that he is a child during this time. Dazai is very much a person guilty of crimes enacted upon others, so he is not absolved from all agency in this, but it is still important to understand that his actions were heavily for survival and his own self destructive pursuit to find something to live for.

Coming back to these two and their pasts as these inhumane figures, both also go through a series of changes as a person to go on a better path. Dazai himself could care less about good vs bad during his Port Mafia days because there was no person who guided him properly on that course, but once Oda's death sets Dazai's path in stone on the good side. Oda's final request to him is to be on the good side, despite the indifference Dazai harbors. Dazai lives out this path up to the current events of the timeline, and he clearly benefits from being in the Agency. He goes to deliberate lengths to hide from his past as well, he avoids any possible association with that and denies similarities between him and those he has harmed during his Port Mafia days, namely those he hurt, like Akutagawa. At the same time, as I pointed out, Dazai is making the conscious choice to change. Yosano follows this similar path of trying with the Agency because of Fukuzawa and Ranpo picking her up from Mori after the isolation facility. The Agency does not require her for her ability, unlike Mori did, she is more than it. She chooses to continue to save lives with her ability because she so heavily values human life.

And this brings me to my next point, their shared connection with life and death, and their attitudes surrounding it. Both Dazai and Yosano greatly value life, as ridiculous as that sounds for a character like Dazai. Yosano is intrinsically connected to the cycle between life and death because of the nature of her ability. She holds life as having more value than death itself, and she expresses this with her drive to save lives. Dazai does not have the ability to control the cycle itself, but he does have a connection to it through his suicidal nature. He stumbles between the line of living and dying due to his inability to find a purpose to live, but he does appreciate life. Dazai appreciates the way other characters such as Oda live their lives, and the humanity Dazai sees in them. He does not believe there is an inherent value to his own life, but he voices his opinions on the human experience and he admires how others do find a reason to live. Dazai and Yosano's frame of mind surrounding life and death is not the same, however, they do share a mutual value for humanity and life in some fashion, even if Dazai seeks out death more than Yosano ever does.

Now, to address Elise. Her as a topic is separate from the rest only because the connection between her, Dazai, and Yosano is speculation on my part. It is not something observable as fact to canon, unlike something as the two's relationships with Mori or their shared themes. It is clear that Elise is at least partially inspired by an eleven year old Yosano. Before the events of the Great War, Elise is shown to follow orders blindly. She is a subservient ability, and her usual liveliness is not present at this time. This changes after Mori loses Yosano, and Elise behaves like an average child at this point, but the specific traits he takes from Yosano are her willpower and opinionated personality. Another notable detail in Elise's design is her hair bow, which does resembles Yosano's hair pin. This can be attributed to Mori's obsession with Yosano at this age, but I don't believe her likeness to Yosano is only because of that. She also shares traits with Dazai. What I'm referring to his her hair and attitude towards Mori himself. Outside of the time when Elise is based upon someone else, she wears her hair up in a bun. Though she is absent from timeliness between the Great War, we do see her after that, and she now has more open, wavy hair. While you can attribute to this design just for the sake of it, I do think it is interesting to point out this similarity between her and Dazai because Yosano has perfectly straight hair. Elise also chastises Mori, something that Yosano does not do, but Dazai does voice his disapproval of Mori and straight points out his faults, which Elise does too. She also exhibits similar behavior to Dazai in negotiating for what they want, neither lies, and I say this is a trait she got from Dazai only because Yosano does not do this. I think that Mori projects traits of these two onto Elise, a manifestation of his desires, both because of the obsession and because Yosano+Dazai symbolize regret from the past.

[yuikomorii]

Maturing is realising that Ayato is the Diaboy who shares the most qualities with Yui. 🤭

// I'm pretty sure that was Rejet's intention, haha. This is primarily due to the fact that they are both 0 blood type blueprints.

In Japan, blood type is a way more important indicator of someone’s personality than zodiac signs and if you search the 0 traits, you’ll see that they fit both Ayato and Yui perfectly: energetic, honest, easygoing, strong-willed, reliable and so on. Even the blood type is called 楽観主義 which means “optimism”.

I believe both of them are really mentally strong characters, which is one of the reasons why I love them. Another similarity is that they are both extremely empathetic and forgiving, to the point of appearing uhm… not so healthy anymore. I understand that those qualities are desirable, but there is a thin line between being compassionate or understanding and still trying to maintain good relations with people who who gave you such a hard time (as mentioned here in Ayato’s case).

I feel like the reason why they are so forgiving and empathetic is actually because they don’t want others to feel alone.

It is well known that as Yui grew older, Seiji became increasingly busy, making her spend a significant amount of time alone. Ayato used to play with his brothers until Cordelia tried to make an heir out of him, forcing him to spend his entire childhood alone in a room studying. Even the butler admitted in LE that he treated Ayato differently (in the negative way) than the others due to Cordelia's orders, but he eventually apologized to him.

You can see that throughout the routes there are a lot of times when Yui says "But if you do that, you will be alone…" or "I don't want to leave -inserts name- alone!". Ayato also seems to be like that, as he tells Laito in his LE route that no matter how much he despises him, he will always be there for him because he doesn't want him to struggle alone any longer. The same could be said about Kino's LE route because Ayato is the first person to recognize Kino as his brother because he realized he was Karl's abandoned son and wanted to make him feel like he belonged to the Sakamaki family too.

What I'm trying to say is that, while Ayato and Yui dislike being alone, they're not the "I need you because I'd be alone without you!" type, but rather "I'll be there for you because I don't want you to be alone anymore!" type. In some ways, they are projecting their fears onto others, but in this case, it is simply because they care too much.

They're also the only characters Laito wanted to see suffer because, in his eyes, they are the ultimate good people. The way Yui continued to be kind to him and resist in HDB only made Laito want to break her even more, and he also admitted hating Ayato for being honest and pure-hearted, and mentioned hoping to see him suffer. He did and said such things because he believes that if Cordelia hadn't defiled him, he would have been the same, and this is what hurts him the most.

Something I like so much about Ayato and Yui is how neither of them is afraid to confront or even disagree with Karlheinz; Yui's "I'll be the one to decide my life and future." (DF) and Ayato's "I don't need your powers, I choose my own destiny." (CL) are two of the most powerful phrases ever spoken in Diabolik Lovers because this demonstrates that they will not allow themselves to be controlled by Karlheinz or by anyone. Both of them may be dumb at times, but being badass can take many forms; it isn't just about fighting an enemy or devising elaborate plans.

Last but not least, they both believe in Santa Claus and that’s the cutest thing ever! I mean, if vampires exist in the DL universe, why wouldn’t Santa Claus exist too? xD

I am aware that both Ayato and Yui can be too silly and childish at times, but keep in mind that they are supposed to represent teenagers, so I believe people should be less judgmental here. ^^”

[cher-rium]

Liquid fashioning Snake’s sneaking suit with his own flare.

I really enjoy Liquid as a character. I haven’t played all the games in the franchise quite yet but I’ve finished MGS1.

Here are some headcanons for if Liquid lived through Foxdie or wasn’t targeted by it in the first place:

-He honestly really reminds me of Dio Brando (another fictional fave of mine) so I think he’d have a similar relationship as Dio did with Jonathan. A burning hatred accompanied some level of respect. Maybe Liquid, after being defeated by Snake, would have some respect for him but still bicker and have a corny little rivalry. 

-Honestly, I think he’d share a lot of personality traits with Dio! Just very… not intimidating.

-Since we’re still on the topic of JOJO, I imagined him having hair closer to REO Speedwagon? Like in my head I was like “yeah Liquid has slightly wavy/curly hair” and then I looked up reference images for this drawing and i sharted a little. His hair is so FLAT. I think there should be an appropriate middle-ground where his hair is still straight but has waaayyy more volume similarly to his little PS1 model.

-Liquid seems like the type to hold grudges so I don’t think there’s going to be much forgiving besides tolerance.

-It’d be really comical if Liquid accompanied Snake and Otacon and they’re just dragging around this man-child who keeps complaining and bragging. 

-I intentionally avoided giving Liquid any of the gear that Snake has on his suit. I think Liquid would purposely try to out-do Snake at every turn, thus going into missions naked so he can brag when things go well. 

-However when things don’t go well, I think he’d be like the average Overwatch player and just blame his teammates or bad luck. I feel like he’s the kind of guy to make REALLY shitty decisions in fights just for the sake of looking/feeling cool and then getting his ass beat. 

-And then after a whooping he comes back down to earth and actually does something useful 💀 (or Snake saves him)

-I know the sneaking suit has the shirt for a reason but, bro had his tits out on shadow moses, he can withstand the cold.

-I gave him grey hairs and a few more wrinkles than he initially appeared with to account for his aging.

-I can kindaaaa see him applying black eyeliner to his waterline. I also added really long eyelashes since I think he’d slay mascara too !

-I don’t think he and Otacon would get along at all initially. My thought is that Otacon tries to introduce him to anime or Japanese media as a whole to try to find something they can both enjoy. Personally, I really see Otacon being into your typical high school or magical girl anime and Liquid would be super-turned off from it. So instead they’d watch like Cowboy Bebop, Yu Yu Hakusho, Berserk, Ghost in the Shell, AKIRA, etc. Stuff that might be appealing to some random guy.

-It’s kinda hard to speak on anything relating to Snake cuzzzz uhhhh y’know I haven’t actually played most of the games– I’m particularly referring to the one where Liquid is a kid! (WHICH im really tempted to play rn in the middle of MGS2 since I REALLY wanna see Lil Liquid). That would give a lot more context ‘cuz I’m currently learning about everything relating to the other games via fanart and discussion posts here on Tumblr 💀

-Idk maybe they can bond on shared trauma man i got no clue

-Raiden? Uh? Okay say he’s [Liquid] involved in MGS2 (or at least the start of it since I haven’t gotten very far in): I feel like Raiden would be really annoyed by Liquid. Just a crazy dumbass making things more stressful than they already are. 

-I didn’t really draw it here but I think Liquid would have downturned eyes while Snake would have upturned eyes. Idk like if I could show the facial structure in my head, Liquid’s sitting face would be really miserable looking. Snake’s would be resting furrowed and seem more intimidating.

-Don’t know much about Solidus and Liquid (for some reason the only interactions I see between them in fanart is either them being shipped together or Liquid about to violently assault the old fuck) but do you know that image of Spiderman getting dunked on by Venom??? Ok so I think that’s them 😭 As soon as Liquid knows there’s an even better clone out there he’d just have a fuckin’ temper tantrum like Muscle Man from Regular Show and make it his mission to dunk on that old man.

-I think Liquid would CONSTANTLY smell like fuckin’ sweat despite literally being shirtless 24/7

-If Liquid were in the modern day he’d smell like 72 gallons of axe body spray

-On nice occasions he would smell like 72 gallons of cologne 

-He’d be a gym bro for sure

-Carrying around protein shakes, talking about gains, and crying about how his stocks are plummeting 

-His hair is definitely a little greasy

-I honestly think he’d have trouble growing facial hair in comparison to the other clones

-I feel like he’s the kinda guy to sit in a corner of a dark room and stare at Otacon to scare the ever-loving shit out of him. 

-Also seems like the kind of guy to have trouble sleeping at night so he just roams like a FNAF animatronic. 

-Seems like the kind of guy to ask Otacon what he’s doing out of boredom and then immediately regret it and space out.

-Ok so I had a thought. I think instead of smoking like Snake and Big Boss do, I think Liquid would drink.

-Y’know the room you find Otacon in MGS1? Where you fight funny ninja robo man? Ok so I think Liquid specifically asked for Otacon to be put into there so that everytime he switches to the security cameras in that room he just laughs at his goofy ass.

-Seems like the type of guy to ask “can i put on your glasses?” and then proceed to act like he just got shot by a firing squad from how blind you are (he does this to Otacon for sure)

-I’d think that Liquid’s ego is so inflated that he’d lack bitchess due to the “I’m too good for them” mentality 

-Upon seeing Ocelot I’d like to think that Liquid would bitch-slap him.

-Seems like the kind of fella to enjoy a meal consisting of dinosaur chicken nuggets, crinkle-cut fries, and mac n’ cheese.

Alright that’s enough headcanons goo-bye.

[ijuststareatstuffhereok89]

I see you hate Sylvie so much and the Loki TV show too. why?

Okay, lemme break it down into a final, once-and-for-all peace speaking on the issue of the series and Sylvie. I'll try to make this as painless as possible.

1- Looking at it beyond the surface, she's not really interesting. The term 'Mary Sue' gets thrown around a lot with Sylvie, and I kind of have to agree. She seems to be little more than a trope checklist. -Sad background that motivates her actions? Check. -Deep down she just wants to be loved? Check. -Inexplicable instant "chemistry" with the male lead? Check. -She's just so super special and important? Check.

But even so, there have been others with similar Sue-ish backgrounds that the MCU has managed to make into pretty decent characters, like Scarlet Witch in WandaVision. Arguably, both characters share some traits, but the writers of Wanda (at least before Multiverse of Mehhness) clearly knew how to bring those ideas into a twisted story of learning how to confront the past and to mourn with a character who still had something to learn.

In contrast, Sylvie really doesn't have any flaws to turn into a deep character study, does she? I think that's her second-biggest detriment (see below for the biggest). A good character is never perfect. A good character had flaws, wants, drives, and other things that make them imperfect but relatable. Sylvie is incredibly unrelatable.

Truly I believe she was written for the stans as a self-insert. She isn't even a decent one. I read fanfics on here with amazing examples of a good insert character, so it clearly can be done. Again, Sylvie ain't it.

2- Sylvie's existence both mocks the comics as well as Norse mythology as a whole. Most of us anti-sylkis know this already, but in Norse mythology AND the Marvel canon that goes beyond the MCU, Loki has had several lovers and wives. Loki married and had three children with Angreboda, and then went on to have twins with wife Sigyn. In the comics, he also had a lover named Amora the Enchantress (which we ALMOST got in the MCU before her cameo was cut). Any one of these three would've made a fantastic romantic plot for Loki if the MCU *really* had the compulsion to go that route.

Alas, instead, the MCU kind of bastardized Amora, Sigyn, as well as another character from the comics named Sylvie, and combined them into TV!Sylvie. This not only means we will likely never see Amora or Sigyn in the MCU, it means they were replaced by an inferior on the same level as Randy from That 70s Show, who was also a sucky character created for the fans as an amalgamation of pre-existing characters.

3- She's just another in a long line of Loki-abusers. Like, does she ever comfort him after all he does for her? Does she even really listen to him? Because from what I saw there was just a lot of this happening between them:

Jesus, lady. What has he done to make you such a jerk to him? I get you're supposed to be a #GuuurlBoss but that doesn't mean "be a total cunt to a man whenever you feel like it."

After all this time, if we really had to have a Loki character study series, why doesn't he get some respite from the fact that basically everyone he knows has either been cryptic and mysterious to him at best, and hostile/violent/malicious to him at worst?

THIS is probably the single biggest reason I loathe Sylvie. We're suppose to believe she's just being Miss Independent when she's really just bringing the poor god down even more than most. I feel like if she met Thor, he'd get upset at seeing how she treats him, and he'd be confused by how easily Loki just accepts it all.

4- I'm becoming more convinced Tom's only doing the show out of obligation, and that his creativity is being tossed aside for the sake of the series. I normally don't like to speculate like some others do, but with more people (like Zoe Saldana) coming out and saying they felt repeatedly stifled by the MCU's yuckity-yucks in terms of character development, I definitely believe they're telling Tom to shut up and read the script. I mean, the guy probably knows as much Norse/Loki mythology as any scholar by this time, and he seems to be a really creative person by nature. They're tossing out a whole trove of potential.

I get he's got a family now and he needs to bring in some bacon, but 1- he and his fiancee are both prolific actors who could probably get any roles they wanted. Hell, Zawe's about to enter the MCU herself when The Marvels come out later this year. If she has a larger role in the next few phases, I hope to god they treat her better than they've treated Tom and Zoe and other actors. But I doubt it. 2- he's probably already richer than God

He's almost certainly trapped by contractual obligations at this point, and that fucking sucks, and yes, I blame the tv show for this.

So, in conclusion: this really is a train wreck of a show hidden behind a lot of smoke and mirrors. I'm not sorry to say it. Sylvie lacks any kind of genuine depth, and the writers seem both lost on where to take Loki's character arcs, and not interested.

[bluegekk0]

26, 24, and 23 for holly + fpk

i'll go in order

23. Favorite picture of this character?

hmm, are we talking in game picture or a drawing i made? if it's the first one then there's not much to choose from, especially for pk (hell, since this is about fpk specifically, then that doesn't really exist haha)

so i'll pick something from my art folder i guess. i hope it doesn't reach self-absorbed territory, i'm always a little afraid of that

for holly, i think i'll have to go with the modern au pic (and also the reference sheet drawing since i reused the pose)

i'm very happy with it cause i think it really fits them. relaxed but slightly hunched over, as if the head is too heavy to hold it up. for the modern version specifically i'm just really happy with the outfit, once again i think it suits them and i like the colors i picked

for fpk, it's gotta be one of these two, i can't decide which one i like more but they're very similar in concept

something about seeing him on tree branches scratches my brain in just the right way. i still like the way i drew his tail in the first one, and the second one is just the right kind of aesthetic for me. i often see similar photos to this, with the moon behind a silhouette of a wild looking animal, and i want to draw something inspired by it. but then i have to remind myself that i already did haha

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

i'll start with fpk cause it's the easiest one for me. both the doctor and rory from doctor who give me fpk vibes very often. rory especially with his awkward tired personality, it's the main reason why i picked him for fpk's voice, it just fits. the doctor, specifically 10 and 11, are a bit more complicated. the autism coded traits they have are very fpk, though a lot of the more emotional moments related to losing others, living for so long and loneliness are a lot more grimm core to me. so i guess rory would be the more obvious one here

holly... yeah i don't know, really. they're a very unique type of character, and i can't think of a single one that reminds me of them 😭 i'm sorry

26. FREEBIE QUESTION!!

oh uhh. i guess that means i can talk about anything i want? hm

i've been thinking about the little speckles of void in fpk's blood and how that could relate to holly. i guess it all depends on whether it would leave his system after some time, or remain there. i'm gonna go ahead and say that it stays there, but the amount of it is so tiny it doesn't really impact him in everyday life. maybe it could amplify his negative feelings? though since there's very little of it in his body, maybe it wouldn't be enough. but i do like the idea of it making him more responsive to holly's void, in particular the noise it makes. he'd already be able to hear it better than others since his hearing is very sensitive, but maybe the void in his organism would make it even more obvious? like, maybe there are certain frequencies only he can hear because of it? i'm not sure how that would work, or if it's even going to be a thing i nthe au, but i figured i could share my thoughts anyway

[harlowehearse]

Candle Cove Head cannons

I have severe brain rot (also some of these might be from the archive account so apologies if you've seen them before). No rhyme or reason to this it's just a bunch of things that came to mind.

-It's a running gag that no one really knows what exactly Horace is? Whether he's really human or not? Even he doesn't seem to know and makes several conflicting statements about it.

-It's also a gag Horace just has no idea how old Janice is. He assumes she's like 3 or 4 or something and doesn't think she can read or anything.

-All of the puppets are made with 4 fingers aside from the abyssian ones who have all 5.

-Abyssians aren't born, they come from and are made from the sand at the bottom of the sea. They don't live forever, just much longer than a human. If they die of age they turn back into sand.

-Janice and Skin-taker sharing a birthday is partially true. Skin-taker does genuinely consider the date his birthday as well because it was the day Poppy killed him and he became what he is now, birthdays and date of deaths are practically the same thing to him.

-Janice and Skin-taker share quite a few other similarities like being the only left handed characters in the show, curiosity being a key character trait, their favorite color both being purple, and just a lot more sprinkled through out the show.

-Janice can be very blunt, is a terrible liar, and her curiosity can easily get the best of her so she'll just blurt out questions as soon as they come.

-Eye contact makes Janice quite uncomfortable (yet another reason why Skin-taker unnerves her so much cuz the guy just stares daggers into your soul).

-After getting really pissed at Horace Janice once threw a rock at and accidentally killed him. Skin-taker brought him back and he was honestly unphased but Janice is still a little messed up and feels guilt over it.

-Janice can get very frustrated or angry, mostly in cases of other characters being mean towards her or her friends (9/10 it's Horace she's mad at).

-Calvary is deaf in his left ear and the whole crew knows sign language. Nathan helped to teach Janice and in return she helped teach him some math stuff she learned from school.

-If she doesn't want to go somewhere, Ms. Laughingstock will just stop dead in her tracks. While not often she and Poppy do butt heads sometimes.

-Revolvers weren't used as weapons in the show until Milo was introduced in season 2.

-Milo was the one to teach Janice how to wield a cutlass ("begrudgingly," he will tell you). Up until that point she just used a slingshot she had from home and a throwing knife Percy taught her how to use.

-Skin-taker's lair resembles a relatively normal living space set up in the cave, and would actually be quite cozy had it not be all made from human remains.

-Skin-taker doesn't hate Poppy because he killed him, he's actually a bit grateful for that because he enjoys being dead, he hates him because Poppy 1) wasted the skin by just throwing it to sharks and 2) Skin-taker sees him as a hypocrite as he has committed crimes just as heinous as Skin-taker, but now goes around with the title "The Honorable Pirate" while sweeping his past under the rug. Plus the guy just gets on his nerves.

-Despite how aloof and cold he seems to regard him Horace is probably the only one (living) Skin-taker would consider a friend.

-Getting new skin isn't the only reason Skin-taker does things, he'll also just do things because he's curious as to the result or he thinks it'd be funny.

-Skin-taker actually really likes wordplay and funny sounding words. Sometimes he'll just say little rhymes and random words out loud to amuse himself. Of course he's also very cryptic sometimes to be purposefully ominous too.

-Though she never appears in person on the show or is mentioned by name, whenever the Red Mary is eluded to or something makes reference to her the music of the show stops, and if you listen closely, you can hear the crackling of a fire in the mix of the background TV static.

-Even though he can't physically smoke Skin-taker has a collection of wooden pipes.

-Sunny has a little cactus collection on the ship that Hans helped her get. Little reminder of home.

-The rubberfishes crew aren't really fond of Skin-taker (they're just as creeped out by him as The Laughingstock crew) but they're all very loyal to and kind of care about Horace so they stick it out for their captain.

-Lillian had light magic and like Horace was a sorcerer of sorts, Talapio was her familiar.

-The Tarantula crews sails were sewn using string Talapio gave them, and because of that you could see them faintly shimmering at night. Some referred to them as "the crew with stars in their sails" because of this.

-You could point at any color, any hue tone shade what have you, and Skin-taker could immediately tell you it's specific name. It's one of the few things about him that are the same from when he was Thade Soben.

-Lillian was genuinely a very goofy, emotional, and fun loving person but being a captain she tried keeping a very calm confident demeanor all the time which then lead her to also being secretly stressed out 24/7. Seeing Thades joy and curiosity for almost everything in Candle Cove helped bring out her sillier side again though.

-No one other than Poppy knows Percy's past on the Tarantula crew as the infamous Prowler Percy and whenever someone goes "Man that prowler percy was so cool I wonder what happened to him" Percy is just "Yeahh haha crazy- let's change the subject" just because he remembering those times hurts too much now and also the NPHC would pay soooooo much money to see Prowler dead.

-One time Poppy gambled Percy in a bet and lost and the crew then spent the whole episode getting into shenanigans trying to get him back.

-There was one episode where Janice and Horace got separated from their crew on a dangerous island and had to very begrudgingly work together to try and get back to them with Janice managing to snag his monocle and holding it hostage so he didn't try any funny business. Even though he did end up betraying her in the end by leaving her on the island (the Laughingstock crew did get her back still) during the episode they actually worked pretty well together and at one point found some common ground, and ever since Horace just seemed a little less hostile towards her, insulted her less, and even seemed to try and lightly deter Skin-taker from her once or twice.

-Susan Siren is actually a menace and does crash ships and kill sailors with her singing she's just loyal to Janice and The Laughingstock crew because Janice freed her from lullaby rock. Girls killed and will do so again.

-Green Gregory is the only other one is Candle Cove aside from Janice who isn't a puppet (in my version I like to think Susan and Nathan are also puppets). It's suggested but never confirmed whether or not he too was once a child who came to Candle Cove long ago.

-Green Gregory knew Skin-taker when he was Thade back when he was a pirate himself, and every once in a while after the taverns closed Skin-taker shows up to catch up with his old acquaintance. Even though he's clear in his distain for the skeleton's doing Gregory is never unwelcoming to him (listen even if they have no canon interactions you can't give me two characters presumably played by the same actor and expect me to NOT come up with a connection between them).

-Percy's paranoia and Calvary's superstition go hand in hand in literally the most chaotic and worst way. Sea dog is so tired of their shit.

-Milo is the only person to have ever tested Dr. Heartfelt's patience.

-The puppets can bleed. It's not a practical effect.

[merp-blerp]

So I haven't seen Disney's Wish myself (I'm waiting for it to assumedly go to Disney+, theaters are a lot of money to spend too often), so I can't speak on the film from my own point of view yet, but I have seen the reaction to it so far and I wanted to share my thoughts on why I think some of these reactions are happening, based on my own experience of watching and listening to the Disney fandom's critiques over the many years I've done so. These are just my observations based on my experiences and it's okay to disagree, just be cordial.

Opinions below the cut ↓

I feel like a part of why Wish is the way it allegedly is has to do with something that has been plaguing Disney for a while: trying to prove bad-faith criticisms wrong instead of knowing their strengths.

I'm sure they still happen, but especially in the early and mid-2010s Disney had a lot of half-baked criticisms directed at their stories and characters. Wish might be another one of many attempts to quell these critiques. For example, I remember a common piece of writing advice would be to make villains complex all the time, with villains who are evil for evil's sake being seen as less well done (this was towards media in general, but it applied to Disney too), so Disney began the surprise villain and/or the sympathetic villain trend in their films. Now people have seen that shtick so much they want traditional villains back (me too). It's now overdone and no longer shocking or subversive in their movies anymore. [And as a little add-on, I understand why people want King Magnifico's design to be more "traditionally villainous" but I'm actually happy he isn't, as it's really hard to design a villain like that without perpetuating some kind of bigoted stereotype that a lot of traditional villains have. Even Mother Gothel, one of the last, if not the last of the classic villains Disney has attempted, had a lot of antisemitism baked into not only her design but also her actions. Disney's done that a lot, which is likely accidental, but still bad. I'd much prefer him to look and act like some guy over an awful Jewish stereotype or something similar.] People also called princesses with the temperaments of, say, Aurora, Belle, or Cinderella "boring", or hell, "sexist" in their characterization, so the heroines were made more relatably quirky, as that type of humor towards/by girls and women were very popular in the 2010s. Asha is allegedly somehow both socially inept and socially competent, which arguably isn't a flaw at all, just contradictory. (My neuro-spicy brain wants to somewhat lean towards neurodivergence when I hear that, but I haven't seen the film, so what do I know?) Now people are souring to that too, understandably, as that humor's kind of dated and overdone with Disney's heroines. These traits aren't bad on girls automatically, especially if they make sense for the environment they grew up in like Anna or Rapunzel, but they've just been done to death with Disney. Ironically, now when I see people suggest alternative traits for Asha they propose a more "sophisticated", "mature", or "self-assured" type of personality, aka, what the "sexist" traditional heroines had a lot of the time.

The newer tropes Disney tried to do in place of their old ones don't have as much staying power as the old. Once they're done so much they get stale. If they're based on trends in media rather than being actually captivating in writing, they become timely. People can digest characters like Cinderella, who are interesting and aren't overly worried about upholding trends in their characterization, for centuries whether they realize it or not. But characters like what Asha is allegedly like are based on trendy, shallow politics that aren't as deep as they sound, maybe sometimes even circling right back into the bigotry it was trying to combat (like the girl-boss stuff), and become overdone and/or dated if they aren't done well or in a new way. I feel like because of the poorly made assessments that people used to make towards Disney, Disney is almost embarrassed by their past films when they really shouldn't be. This is why the recent remakes tend to over-correct the originals. In the original Beauty and the Beast, it was not a flaw that Adam was eleven when he was made to look like a beast in my opinion, it just made it more interesting, but some reviews saw it as a bad thing, so they changed the line in "Be Our Guest" that implied his age. It was seen as a flaw that the original Cinderella didn't have a clear reason to stay with her abusive family, even though that's how familial abuse works often and it's really rude to victims to ask "Why don't you just leave?" or something like that; so Disney gave Ella the explanation that she stays because it was her father's home in the 2015 remake, which only added more flaws when you remember that she does leave the house in the end anyway. What was the point in saying that? People wanted strong female characters, so Mulan in her remake is a flawless, emotionless girl-boss. It was seen as sexist when female characters wanted romantic love because "girls don't need a man, so romance is sexist", so Disney stopped telling love stories and focused more on issues of the self, which isn't bad, but now people want Disney to tell love stories again and are disappointed that Asha didn't have a romance with the mostly cut "Star-Boy" character in Wish (again, me too, I love Disney's love stories). All of these are overcorrections to things that were never flaws to begin with, just nit-picks from bad observations of their films. There are too many examples. It's like Disney is insecure.

If Disney understood that these things weren't bad in essence, Wish would be more liked by its critics; if Disney wasn't afraid to let their female characters have actual flaws, not see romantic love as something dated, not continue to listen to these types of shitty judgments, or just take more risks again because that's what shaped the company—taking risks against the odds, Wish would be better (I assume all of the former based on what I've heard, again I haven't seen Wish myself). The pseudo-feminism and CinemaSins type of critiquing from the 2010s has mostly died out. The culture's changed. The tropes people once condemned are now being begged to be brought back. What goes around comes back around. It showcases what was truly timeless and what was just a trend in media.

In my opinion, old bad-faith "fan" responses are partially to blame for these themes in recent films, but of course, Disney is ultimately at fault because they make their own choices. There could also be plenty of other reasons why Wish feels half-done to some, like the alleged poor treatment of employees behind the scenes.

By the way, if you were a Disney fan who had these types of opinions in the past, you shouldn't be hard on yourself about it, especially if you were just a kid listening to and trying to appeal to the adults that were around you or influenced you. The latter is the boat I was in once, and now I've grown up past that. Needlessly cynical film takes and pseudo-feminism were all the rage for a while and many have had that phase of being really into those mindsets. You're not bad if you've been in it at any time in the past as long as you are learning and growing.

I'm choosing to be optimistic about Disney. Somehow I still am. They have been in a creative rut for what seems like a while now. Disney-creative doesn't seem to be allowed to tell the stories they want to tell, instead being made to cater to the wrong people. The people who like to insult Disney more than they like watching their films. They should make movies for the fans of all ages who love them. But I believe Disney can bounce back from this. Disney has been through rough patches before, but these rough patches in the past have led to eras like the Disney Renaissance. I'm hoping the backlash from Wish will lead to Disney making changes once more. They've done that repeatedly in their complex 100 years of establishment. Gone are the times when the Disney remakes were panned by fans but still made tons of money that justified their continued production. And long gone are the days when fans were actually excited about the prospects of Disney recreating their movies (because yes people felt that way once upon a time). Now the remakes aren't making as much as Disney wants and sometimes even flopping. Gone are the days when their animated films were their critical lifeline, Wish proves that they are not immune to being received poorly. It's time for something new. Or old done new. Just something different. It would be one thing if this were just another bad movie, but this was their 100th-year celebration, you think they'd be more careful to not muck it up. But apparently, all it did was reflect all the flaws that have been in Disney's storytelling as of late. That's why the backlash is so great. It feels like the last straw. Once time goes on past the 100th-anniversary era, I think the hate for Wish will die down, but that wouldn't make it less potentially flawed. When I first caught wind of this film, way before we had a trailer even, I was very excited that it seemed like a return to form for Disney, but apparently, it might not be, and that's got a lot of people disappointed, especially since this movie was meant to be a celebration. I've loved Disney for as long as I can remember and I know a lot of people are the same way. People wouldn't be so disappointed in the state of the company if they didn't care deeply about Disney and believed that they could do better. I still think Disney could be great. I still believe in them. They just need to believe in themselves again.

If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading! ♥

[arashi-no-saxlphone]

Hi, not gonna anon for this but self-reporting, I am the "outrageously normal about Asuka" anon that got the confession released a few days ago. I am, as I said, outrageously normal about him and seeing your posts about him have been such fun treats. Like another person who gets it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who gets how silly the little warcrime committer is!!! And how sad he is too because he's this complex mess of emotions :( But that's okay!!! Because his character is such a fun one to study and to just enjoy!! So seeing your takes on him and his story, again, are such treats. It's very nice and it's always refreshing to see that I haven't gone insane looking at him self-exiling to Tir na nOg and going "Hrm, he made a clone that """"improved"""" on his current traits and swapped clothes with this guy like Asuka was going to disappear into sparkly catboy dust" and that someone else has caught on to just how Asuka didn't seem quite ready to keep going with the world now that everything's settling. I hope when Frederick and Jack-O' visit Asuka (and R# probably [if he's not romping around on Earth and visiting the Chicago Rat Hole for the experience]) that they get to have some good talks and start being on at least okay terms. Because they are probably pouring a lot of time and effort into seeing him up on the moon and they all deserve some NORMALCY!!!!!!!!!!!! Some good ol' fashioned road to recovery that Frederick doesn't have to forgive Asuka for but they could at least just... try to mend things and start to heal and move on from the past without forgetting it and and and- Anyhoo, word dump over!!! Have a good day!! :D

YEAAAH it is SUPER vindicating to encounter so many other Asuka fans who read his character and draw similar conclusions that I do about him - he's super complex and VERY sad and I think unfortunately that all gets missed or written off cause "everything is his fault" which isn't even explicitly true (I'm not saying he didn't fuck up at all, but the whole fucking point of Gear's narrative is that humanity keeps doing this to themselves - that whole "blamed the beasts" bit isn't just bullshit as fun as it is to meme it haha).

I hope for the same in regards to what you said about Frederick and Jack-O; I'm pretty confident that with the crazy commercial success of Strive as well as the amount of hanging threads we have with other characters that leave more to be explored that we will probably get another game, and also that means we'll have more Asuka development and healing (after all, we've seen that much in great detail with characters like Testament and Aba, who weren't even present in the story for Strive). I think it's also clearly hinted at in his arcade story that Asuka IS starting to "get it" and is clearly capable of learning and changing - he's always had Frederick to look up to in that regard, and R# even mentions it as he's engaging with the battle data of other characters.

Thank you for this ask! Asuka is a really fucking good character and I got pretty obsessed with trying to understand him - I'm always happy to see other people share that passion for him and have ideas of their own to contribute that further help my understanding of him as well! Definitely one of the best things about being in the Gear fandom on here has been having my own thoughts expanded by everyone else's takes and comments on my posts.

[desert-bluffs-and-me]

Kevin and Cecil: doubles, counterparts, twins, some combination?

Reblog for exposure please!

Definitions, for and against arguments, explaination of last option:

Doubles. Definition: exact copies of the citizens of Night Vale and of Desert Bluffs which split from them during the sandstorm. Essentially a newly created clone whose looks, personality and memories were/are identical to each other. For example: Dana is not sure if she's the original Dana or the double, due to the exactness of the memories of being Dana right up to the point of seeing the other Dana. Every double is described as looking, sounding and acting identically to the person they're a double of be it Cecil or Kevin reporting. Lawrence Lavine (Larry Leroy's counterpart but not his double) details the sensation of suddenly feeling like he had two hands scooping sand until there was suddenly two complete versions of him. Evidence for: Both Kevin and Cecil describe a picture of the other sharing their physical likeness, even down to what the other is wearing in the photo matching what the speaker is wearing now (or, posesses at least). Their likeness in looks is also mentioned when they physically meet during the Strex arc. Neither of them spawn any other kind of double, despite the fact that people indoors did still spawn one (such as Dana, and the imagined alive version of Vanessa Kevin seems to insist on manifesting). Kevin says directly that he 'thinks he saw his double' when the two cross back through the vortex. Evidence against: Both existed before the sandstorm, so unless (likely Cecil) spawned a double when he was very young and that double was taken away and raised as Kevin, this is very strange. Cecil doesn't actually say he met his double when seeing Kevin in the vortex.

Counterparts: a term not mentioned in canon but which can be used to explain the relationship between two characters with similar but not necessarily identical names, lives, personality traits and roles/jobs as somebody from the other town. For example: Dana Cardinal/Dan Cardozo, Larry Leroy out on the edge of town/Lawrence Lavine out in the Edgertown Development, Old Woman Josie (full name Josephina)/Grandma Josephine, Pamela Winchell/Pablo Mitchell. The fact that they seem to have similar jobs etc hints that whilst being different people they have made similar decisions in life. Evidence for: Cecil and Kevin share a lot of the same likes and dislikes which is more obvious in the brief glimpses we get of Kevin from before Strex changed him, even Cecil comments on this in Triptych. They both have the same job (obviously). They both didn't experience a creation of a double, but did make identical decisions to go through the vortex showing more likemindedness without being the exact same person (possibly).

Twins: two children born at the same birth (according to Google, but we all know what twins are, right?). Evidence for: If Kevin and Cecil are just twins from a seperated marriage, it could explain why Kevin mostly remembers a dad and Cecil only had a mother and why they're physically identical and somewhat similar in other ways but still different even before Kevin's brainwashing. Kevin mentions having siblings, but his memory of his past is hazy. They could have been split when they were too young to really remember each other and Abby could have her own reasons for not wanting to tell Cecil about Kevin even after the Strex arc and Kevin coming to town.

Evidence against: Although Kevin briefly and unreliably mentions siblings, Cecil doesn't except for Abby. The grown Cecil from Casettes even explicitly says he doesn't have a brother (although he's technically talking about Cal here) which doesn't necessarily invalidate the other points but could do. It seems like something Abby would have mentioned to him at some point though regardless of any reasoning I can think of but people are unreasonable all the time.

Last option: We know there's many timelines and that Cecil is a constant in all of those timelines. If there can be a timeline which is identical except instead of Abby, Cal was born OR a mini version of NV which is now under the bowling alley then why couldn't there be a timeline where Cecil was favoured by a Smiling God and not Huntokar and was raised in DB as Kevin? In the newer episodes, Kevin, refreshed to a child by Carlos' meddling science, has no idea who he's supposed to be and is completely lost. I don't know if that's completely related to this theory but it is interesting.

Facts to possibly ignore for meta reasons: Kevin and Cecil having different names and voices.