#like they deserved their own better spinoffs

[linkspooky]

How to write the perfect revenge story with Kohaku-Sensei! What Tsukihime does better than Avatar the Last Airbender.

So a follower asked me why Kohaku was my favorite of the Tsukhime girls after I made an offhand comment on my Ciel/Noel post on how Kohaku is the perfect take on revenge. Both Noel and Kohaku's story arcs are near perfect revenge tragedies that make their characters the standouts in Tsukihime. I tried writing up just why I thought Kohaku's character was good but it kept turning into a carbon copy of this post by comun right here. Eventually I decided to dig deeper.

Why does Kohaku's revenge story work so well? Why does every other revenge story suck so hard in comparison? See the thing is I hate a lot of revenge stories in fiction because they are very shallow, black and white tales of the good guy giving the bad guy everything he deserves.

In other words, I'm disappointed by most omdern revenge stories because they display a critical lack of understanding of how cycles of abuse start in the first place, and how both sides on the conflict no matter what are equally human. Perhaps that's why Kinoko Nasu writes revenge so well, because he's a deeply humanist author who's not really focused on good guys or bad guys but rather just understanding the characters involved.

So to show just how well Tsukihime humanizes Kohaku as both victim and villain of the story, I'm going to compare it to one of the worst revenge stories I've read in fiction. Both of these stories are tragedies that kill their main character, a victim who just wanted revenge for the long abuses they'd suffered in life. However, one of these is Tsukihime, and the other one sucks. So without further ado under the cut.

ORESTES THE FIRST REVENGE STORY

So Yun is a character from a spinoff novel prequel of Avatar the Last Aribender, focusing on the life of Avatar Kyoshi. In a lot of ways Yun is like Noel. He's a completely new character, thrown into the backstory of an already established character. He also steals the show because he's allowed to be a lot more flawed and act as a villainous foil to the main character, Yun even acts as a Jungian shadow the second novel is literally called the shadow of Kyoshi.

However, there's one major difference Noel's character greatly enhances Ciel's even if she is fridged for Ciel's character development. Whereas Yun's character and the eventual ending the story gave him ruined any kind of enjoyment I could have had from the story for Kyoshi's character. In fact, I think Yun's death made the whole story fall apart thematically.

Which is ironic because it was the exact same ending. Noel's character ends with her dying by Ciel's hands. Kyoshi kills Yun with her own two hands in order to stop his revenge. In both stories the victim dies so why does one frustrate me to no end and the other ending elevates Tsukihime to one of my favorite pieces of fiction?

The devil is in the details.

Revenge stories are by their nature tragedies. It makes sense for them to, for the most part with a few hopeful exceptions have bad endings. Taking personal revenge against every single person who's hurt you grievously no matter how deserved that revenge might be does not solve the problem. In fact it creates several new problems.

This is pretty well explored tragedy in fiction, all the way back to The Oresteia. Orestes is the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. If you know anything about the trojan war you should recognize those names.

The story begins like this, King Agamemnon of Mycenae offends the goddess Artemis by killing one of her stags. So, in retaliation she prevents the greek troops from reaching troy by taking the wind out of their sails, unless Agamemmnon kills his oldest daughter Iphigenia. Agammemnon drags his daughter away from his wife Clytemnestra who was crying and begging him not to and offers her as human sacrifice. Ten years later when Agamemnon returns home he finds his wife sleeping with another man, and the two of them together butcher him to avenge iphigenia.

Then in order to avenge her father's death, elektra urges her brother Orestes to kill their mother and the man she committed adultery with. Orestes eventually goes through with it out of duty to his father, but because he's committed the clan of kin slaying the gods send the furies after him to chase him down and torment him.

The revenge just continues to cycle. Orestes doesn't right a wrong by avenging his father's murderer, he just commits kin slaying a taboo among the gods. Even though he felt he had an obligation too because he couldn't let his father's murderer live, the gods don't let him live in peace. Orestes would have been chased by the Furies for the rest of his life if Athena didn't intervene and basically hold the first court case in order to rule if it was really just to punish Orestes like this.

The point of my long foray into greek mythology is that no matter how entitled each person in the revenge cycle might have felt to their revenge, in the end they were committing a horrible act. Clytemnestra was avenging her daughter against the man who killed him, but she alienated her other two children. Orestes was duty bound to avenge his father, but he still killed his own mother with his two hands. At each link in the chain there's no real innocent parties, and the moment you take revenge you become a perpetrator in this cycle of abuse as well.

That is I think a central concept that the greeks understood but many modern authors fail to grasp, that revenge is a cycle during which any time a person can become a victim of it, and also a perpetrator of it. It's not a matter of internal goodness or badness but rather an uncontrollable cycle of violence that people get caught up in.

What revenge stories should be about is escaping the cycle. When the character manages to escape like Orestes and live for something other than revenge that's a happy ending, but when the character fails to escape that's a tragedy. Whether or not a character actually accomplishes their revenge is a footnote.

The Count of Monte Cristo accomplishes most of his revenge but the act of revenge isn't what saves him, but rather the faithful love of Haydee who had always been by his side and the words "wait and hope." The Count isn't saved by the revenge he took on all the people who hurt him, but by the strength he had to wait through a terrible situation until it got better and then live on to the better future. Carrie accomplishes her revenge in burning down the school gymnasium and all of her bullies, then goes home and dies a few minutes after killing her mom the last of her abusers unable to escape the cycle.

While their endings are opposites, in both cases completing their revenge didn't give them any measure of peace at all. In fact, the Count almost in the course of his revenge committed a sin far worse than anyone had done to him by killing a newborn infant. No, any good revenge story should know that in the words of percy from Critical Role you can't murder your way to peace.

"There was nothing I could’ve done to save my family, yet I still sold my soul in search of vengeance. Later I allowed Ripley to leave, knowing full well she was a greater threat to the world than the Briarwoods would ever be. I traded the world’s safety for the belief that I could murder my way to peace; that if I could be a greater horror, it would bring my family back. And once this lie was shattered I scrambled to find a solution, to make a deal, to undo my mistakes and balance the scales. I now understand that there are no scales, there is no redemption, and no ledger that judges me good or evil. I am free to simply be myself and live with the terrible mistakes I’ve made." -Percy's Death Letter, Critical Role

In most revenge stories I've noticed that revenge is the main character motivator for the character taking revenge. Therefore the conflict becomes whether or not they can find something new to live for by the end of the story. The characters seeking revenge often make that revenge their entire reason for living, but then what next?

This quote from Oldboy a modern adaptation of the Count of Monte Cristo is relevant.

Seeking revenge is the best cure for someone who got hurt Try it The loss of 15 years the pain of losing your wife and child you can forget all this Once again revenge is good for your health But... What happens after you've revenged yourself?

What happens after you've revenged yourself should be the central question to these revenge arcs. The ones who don't have an answer to that question and are unable to free themselves from the cycle are the ones who end in tragedy.

YUN VS KOHAKU

Yun and Kohaku are characters from a western animated series that adopts eastern themes and a Japanese visual novel about vampires. These two characters come from very different genres of stories, an adventure story about magical warriors using martial arts to bend the elements and a horror story about vampires and serial killers respectively.

However, because both Yun and Kohaku are the central figures of a revenge tragedy they end up having a lot in common. The largest common thread between them is that both of them is that they are child abuse victims, specifically the victims of long term grooming.

They are children who were adopted and then groomed by their father figure for years. In Kohaku's case, it was sexual grooming, whereas in Yun's case it was grooming him into a child soldier. The official definition of child grooming works for both of these cases, it is when an adult forms a relationship with a child to sexually assault them or induce them into doing something dangerous or harmful to them.

Kohaku and Yun are more obscure characters though so for the sake of people who haven't read one or both of these series I'm going to go more into depth on their individual circumstances.

Kohaku is an empath, born with the ability to transfer energy to other people through sexual intercourse. She and her sister were brought into the Tohno Clan, because Makihisa Tohno the elder had demon blood in his veins. This demon blood made him at risk of going through a process called inversion, where he would slowly lose all his mind, all reason, and violently attack everyone around him until he was finally put down. In order to mitigate that risk, Makishisa engaged in regular sexual intercourse with a young Kohaku and made use of her abilities as an empath to control his demon side.

As the elder of twin sisters Kohaku made a deal with Makihisa that she'd let him use her whenever she needed as long as he never touched her sister. Since he kept his word to her, she found it hard to resent him in the long term. Also, because she was constantly high on drugs that made it impossible for her to feel pain.

"So, I took in everything Makihisa-sama wanted to do. I asked him not to touch Hisui-chan because I would take everything myself. He was probably ashamed and agreed to my request. He probably also thought it was better that as few people knew about this secret as possible."

Kohaku is eventually sent to take care of Makihisa's son who also inverted, but when he loses control and rapes her too that's when she loses her last bit of humanity and starts to think of revenge.

At this point she starts to think of herself as an unthinking doll who cannot move for herself, and can only move for revenge. She eventually starts to move against Makishia, first by informing Akiha and Hisui of the abuse she's suffered. She's surprised when Akiha immediately protests what he farther was doing right away, and the sexual liason ends and Kohaku becomes a normal servant. However, even after the abuse ends Kohaku decides to continue living for revenge leading to the main plot of the Far Side of Tsukihime.

Yun is the false avatar. If you've heard of Avatar then I'm sure you at least vaguely know of the concept of the avatar, spiritual guide in the world of avatar that reincarnates over and over again to guide both humanity and the spirits.

In the avatar prequel novels it's established each nation has its own way of tracking down the avatar, but because Kuruk died early and under mysterious circumstances the earth nation was in a panic to find the next avatar. Instead of waiting for more sure confirmation, they picked one random kid on the side of the road on what was basically a hunch that he was Kuruk's reincarnation. This kid was named Yun, a nameless but smart kid with no parents who was conning people by playing Pai Sho really really well. While all along the next avatar Kyoshi was right next to them as one of Yun's servants.

Yun is trained as the avatar through years, and is put through the kind of training that only the Zoldyck family from Hunter x Hunter would approve in. Including being forced to walk on spiked caltrops to learn bending, and being forced to microdose on poison to gain an immunity. Like, this is literally what Killua's parents did to him in HXH.

"I'm surprised you can move," Jianzhu said to him, more impressed than anything else. "Poison training," Yun spat through clenched jaws. "With Sifu Amak, remember? Or did you forget every darker exercise you put me through?"

Yun is a genius earth bender, a brilliant statesman, he works all around the clock to become the avatar everyone is telling him he's destined to be but he's not physically capable of bending any element other than earth. To the point where after a year of failing to learn fire, his bending teachers frequently lambast him as being lazy and not trying hard enough.

"Your situation isn't unique" Hei-Ran went on. "History is full of Avatars like you who tried to coast on their talents. You're not the only one who wanted to take it easy." Yun slipped. An event rare enough to notice. His motion took him too far outside his center of gravity, and he stumbled on his knees. Sweat stung his eyes, ran into the corner of his mouth. Take it easy? Take it easy? Was she ignoring the fact he spent sleepless nights poring over scholarly analyses of Yanghcen's political decisions? That he'd extensively memorized the names of every Earth Kingdom noble, Fire Nation commander, and Water Tribe Chieftan back three generations on the living and the dead? The forgotten texts he'd used to map the ancient sacred sites of the Air Nomads to such a degree that Kelsang was surprised about a few of them? That's who he was when no one was looking. Someone who dedicated his whole being to his Avatarhood. Yun wanted to make up for the lost time he'd squandered by being discovered so late. He wanted to express gratitude to Jianzhu and the entire world for giving him the greatest gift in existence. Taking it easy was the last thing on his mind. [Literally a few seconds later...] "In the old days, masters used to maim their students for insubordination," she said horsely. Yun restrained himself from flinching, "What wonderful modern times we live in."

So Yun is physically and emotionally abused by all of his teachers, Jianzhu, Hei-Ran and several other adults who were complicit with it to train him up into being the avatar. Then, when it turns out Yun isn't the avatar, he's immediately abandoned and left for dead.

Yun gets dragged into the spirit world as a human sacrifice to a horrifying spirit known as Father Glow Worm. He is abandoned by his master who makes no attempt to save him the moment he learned that he wasn't the avatar. Then, in the spirit world he fights Father Glow Worm for days and eventually has to eat him in order to escape home.

After getting to a random village he asks for water. Yun is mocked by a man he saved earlier fo rasking for a single glass of water. When the man throws the water on the ground and tells him to water bend it, Yun snaps and then kills the man who mocked him, the city guard, and everyone who was sitting in the teashouse and has his Geto moment. He decides to start living for revenge against all of the teachers who abused him.

"Well," he said out loud to no one. "It looks like I've been fired." Perhaps it was for the best. He would need the free time, because he had a losit of things to do. lots of personal business to take care of. And at the top of the list was paying his respects to Jianzhu. Filled with new purpose, Yun took off down the road, whistling as he went.

Both of these characters decide to make revenge their reason for living. To quote Oldboy, "Seeking revenge is the best cure for someone who got hurt. Try it." They also face the same fundamental issue, now that they're only living for revenge then what happens after they've revenged themselves?

These characters are also similar in a couple of other ways. They are schemers who mainly work through manipulating others. Yun fakes a political conflict between the fire nation royal family and another noble family in order to bring one of his abusers into the crossfire. Kohaku manipulates both SHIKI and Shiki through the use of drugs to orchestrate her revenge in the Far Side Routes.

They're also both trickster characters. Yun refers to himself as a clown and constantly hides everything behind a smile. "He added that smirk that everyone said reminded them of Kuruk's. After all, a clown needed his makeup." A major part of Kohaku's character is that after Hisui learned about how her sister was being abused she stopped smiling. Kohaku wanting her sister to be happy, started to fake a smile and goof around the way Hisui used to because she wants to see her sister smile again.

One more similarity before I begin dissecting their differences and the way these two characters are handled is that if Kohaku and Yun were the main characters of the story their revenge would undoubtably be framed as one hundred percent justified. If they were the main characters it would definitely be a kill bill situation.

I don't think they are justified, because straightforward revenge is boring. The fact that they are antagonists is the point of each story. I'm just making an underlying point on how a lot of revenge stories suffer from protagonist centered morality. It's alright if Maki Zen'in, or The Bride kills upwards of a hundred people in retaliation for the harm that was done to them and we're supposed to root for them without thinking too deeply on it because they're the protagonists of the story. Protagonist centered morality is bad, because it makes things too centered on the protagonist and therefore if the morality of a piece of based on the protagonist it will make things too easy and the protagonist will go unchallenged.

In fact, in the story of Tsukihime itself, the entire Tohno family thinks that Kohaku 100% has the right to take revenge against them. Akiha is fully aware of Kohaku's revenge scheme. She lets Kohaku get away with her revenge every step of the way, including taking what is essentially a bullet on purpose and dying for Kohaku's revenge scheme because she believes her family deserves it.

However, because they are not the protagonists they don't get the easy route of taking their revenge against the people who deserve it and then riding off into the sunset happily. No, Kohaku practically gets her revenge handed to her on a silver platter and still revenge doesn't fix anything.

Once again, revenge is good for your health, but...

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOU'VE REVENGED YOURSELF?

Yun and Kohaku are both characters who either lost everything, or had no reason to live to begin with and decided to make revenge a reason for living. Both of them were unable to keep living for revenge because revenge is unsustainable. It's not something you do once and you're done, it's a cycle. The act of participating in it continues to perpetuate the cycle. As a result both of them met their tragic end.

However, Kohaku's tragedy surpassed Count of Monte Cristo for my favorite revenge story in all of fiction, whereas Yun's ending made me want to rip his book in half.

There are some differences in how their revenge stories play out. Kohaku is a very unique character. In spite of being an emotionless doll, she takes her revenge not out of anger or hate but empathy. I can't word it better than Comun so I'll just quote their post:

Hisui route ends with the reveal that Kohaku masterminded the demise of the Toono family and her motives are pretty obvious but I never expect the way she felt about it. Kohaku describes herself as not as a human, but as Makihisa’s emotionless doll. Kohaku had to constantly intake pain-removing drugs in order to endure Makihisa’s (and latter SHIKI’s) abuse and this state of not feeling anything disconnected her from her emotions. Kohaku admits that, to some extent, she did all of this because it made her feel human a little. What you would expect from this premise? Kohaku channelling her remnants of humanity into hatred for the Toono family and orchestrating her revenge. Was that what really was on her mind? Nope, Kohaku (and Kinoko himself, as Fate/Grand Order is a great evidence of) has a much more positive definition of what it means to be human. Kohaku expresses her humanity through fairness, empathy and a desire to make the situation better. Even though, Makihisa singlehandedly completely ruined her life, she acknowledges that he didn’t do it out of sadism or perversion, he did because he really had no other choice in order to keep himself from inverting and causing even bigger harm to everyone. Kohaku sees Makihisa as much of a victim of this tragedy as herself. 

Kohaku's revenge actually takes a twisted form of empathy. Kohaku doesn't have the standard revenge motivation of just wanting to hurt the people who hurt her, because she can objectively see the points of view of almost everyone involved in the tragedy.

It's a bit like Orestes where there's no true beginning or end point. Makihisa is a sick pervert and the instigator, but he also didn't choose to be born with demon blood that made him liable to turn insane at any moment. SHIKI is kind of helpless in all of this, as another person with demon blood he couldn't help inverting at nine years old and going completely insane, he's not really in control of his actions. Hisui is an innocent, and while Akiha is a part of the same family the moment she learned what Kohaku was suffering she stood up for Kohaku and made it stop.

"But, there wasn't anything else I could do. Without a purpose like that, I couldn't live. A doll cannot move on its own. Without anything to guide it, it can't move." "But still--" ...... That is unforgivable.

Comun frames Kohaku's motivations as genuinely believing the world would be better off without the Tohno bloodline, because it only has caused everyone involved with it suffering. Therefoer she makes a plan to kill every member of the family, except for Hisui and Shiki who are technically innocents, and then herself finally so Hisui can run off into the sunset together with Shiki who she'd always loved.

I'd also add that on top of empathy there's also a certain justice in her actions. Not justice in the sense that she has to hurt the people who hurt her, more like justice in the sense of fairness? Like, Kohaku isn't driven by personal hatred but rather a desire to make things fair and balance the scales. A family like the Tohno who cause misery to everyone shouldn't exist, because people shouldn't have mixed their blood with demons in the first place. There has to be a consequence to Makihisa's actions because you can't get away with child rape and the only one who could enforce it was her. The same way that Kohaku considers everyone's opinion equally and considers everyone equal victims in this twisted family cycle of revenge, Kohaku also acts to make things more fair.

To quote Percy again, it's like she's trying to balance the ledgers.

"And once this lie was shattered I scrambled to find a solution, to make a deal, to undo my mistakes and balance the scales. I now understand that there are no scales, there is no redemption, and no ledger that judges me good or evil."

Kohaku's also constructing a narrative around her pain. She needs a reason to keep living, and that reason is the narrative she's constructed, the story she told herself that she only half believes that everyone would be better off if everyone associated with the Tohnos, herself included, except for Hisui and Shiki died off.

Of course this is just a narrative. A lie she is telling herself to justify her actions. Because Kohaku acts out of fairness, and empathy, but she also acts for the sake of acting. She wants a reason to move, because otherwise she would just be a doll, passively enduring suffering. The story she tells herself is in the end a lie, like all stories are. Kohaku ignores the feelings of two people in her assumption that everyone would be better off without the Tohnos, that is her own personal feelings towards Akiha, and Hisui's feelings towards her. Kohaku understands that the reason Hisui can't smile any more is that she's too horrified at all the things her sister endured to protect her. However, she can't grasp that killing herself in front of Hisui would just make Hisui live with that guilt forever. That Hisui would rather be miserable with her sister alive than happy with her dead.

(From the good ending)

"Nee-san......? Nee-san, hold on......!!" A desperate cry. Seeing that, the girl smiles like a child. "...... Huh? ...... Don't do that, Hisui-chan. Crying like that, it feels...... like back then." "What---Nee-san, why----" "...... Yeah, because if I, don't do, so, you won't be, able to return, to the way, you were." Her words in pieces, and with glazed eyes, she speaks to Hisui. "---------Nee, san." Hisui's face contorts in grief. Her tears flood her face. "...... Why? That's fine. I was okay with the way I was. If you were happy, then I was happy. I---I was always protected by you, so---" I was always happy. Painfully, she swallows her last words.

Yun is in comparison less magnanimous towards his abusers. He wants more straightforward revenge against his teachers and all the people who "lied" to him by promoting him as the false avatar.

This is the biggest area where he differs from Kohaku. Rather than Kohaku, I'd say he's more like Geto, someone with a savior complex who genuinely put their all into being good because they believed they had the responsibility to save people, only to be then betrayed by those same people they were working so hard to save.

I do still think empathy is the central motivation for both characters. Kohaku commits revenge out of a twisted sense of empathy to see the perspectives of everyone involved and decides the only way to fix everything is to destroy it all and wipe the board clean and give the two innocents in the Tohno Household a fresh start.

Geto and Yun are both high empathy individuals whose empathy for other people twists them so much when they're confronted by human ugliness and selfishness, that they end up turning on the same people they wanted to save. They feel a bone deep empathy that twists them into monsters because they're not able to exist in an unfair or imperfect world that isn't the way they imagined it to be.

'...no matter what, I hate non-sorcerers. But it's not like I hate everyone at Jujutsu Tech. It's just...' It's just that it was what Geto had to do. In some ways, Geto and Yuuta were the same. Geto was too sincere. To someone like him, the reality that the world of sorcerers presented to him was just too cruel. '...that in a world like this, I couldn't be truly happy from the bottom of my heart.' To live for the purpose of being yourself. And for that goal, Geto could only continue to pursue his twisted dream, drowning himself in the curse that lies in the gap between ideal and reality. This was the final confession of a man who could only choose to warp himself, who had erased himself in pursuit of his goals. The only person who could bear such a curse was Gojo Satoru. JUJUTSU KAISEN ZERO LIGHT NOVEL

Geto is broken by the idea that all of his comrades and himself are considered expendable, and they're all meant to sacrifice themselves for an ignorant public. Yun is broken by the fact he broke his body and mind trying to be a great avatar because he wanted to help people, only to learn that it was all for nothing because he was discarded the moment it turned out he wasn't the avatar.

(Yun is more Morgan Coded but that's a different post).

It was too late. "I dedicated my life to people like you." Yun said. He couldn't tell if he was laughing, crying, croaking out beastial sounds of fury. "I wanted you to thrive. I wanted you to prosper. I tried so hard."

However, I'd say both of them Kohaku and Yun are driven by an underlying idea of fairness. They're not taking bloody violent revenge for personal gratitude, but because they can't cope with the unfairness of the world they're living in and are trying to find some ways to balance the scales.

Yun is so driven by fairness that he doesn't want to punish Kyoshi even though she technically stole the title of avatar from him. He considers her innocent of the whole thing, and even sympathizes with her and the struggles she carries right now as avatar.

"I can't believe you think I would ever hurt you." He gently tugged the closed fan out of her right hand. "You, the one innocent party in this whole affair! I would never hurt you, Kyoshi! For Yanghcen's sake, I used to be your whole life.!" He dropped the weapon and it pinged against the ground. "I know what's happening here. Your duties have gotten to you haven't they? I remember what it was like, carrying the weight of Four nations on my shoulders. Jianzhu used to liken them to unruly students in a classroom, requiring the guidance of a strong hand." He paused and chuckled, "I used to believe it meant showing the wya, leading my example. Now I know better. The world is a child refusing to listen, creaming in a tantrum. It needs to be slapped a few times until it learns to be quiet."

I think this is essentially the difference that makes one narrative and breaks the other. Nasu is fully aware of Kohaku's humanity even as she calls herself a doll. He goes to great length to demonstrate Kohaku's humanity in all the ways I pointed out above, by showing how much she sympathizes with others, by how she protected her sister, by how she's guided by principles.

More than anything, it sympathizes with Kohaku by making us as the reader understand that while she did bad things it was in retaliation to an even more horrible evil done to her. Also, that Kohaku only did these things because revenge was the only way she could think of to live, Kohaku was just a victim coping in the worst way imaginable. I think Nasu really nails down the hopelessness of someone who's clinging to revenge because they can't think of any other reason to live.

Whereas so much effort is put into Yun's backstory and detailing all of his suffering, only for him to be treated like a very standard villain. Like, honestly, Geto is a genocidal maniac and he's framed way more nicely by the story he's in than Yun. All Yun really wants to do is kill his abusers and that is apparently a sin too deep to continue living with.

Geto who does way worse things than Yun, and who is also killed by his former best friend is shown way more love and acceptance in his ending than Yun is.

This was the final confession of a man who could only choose to warp himself, who had erased himself in pursuit of his goals. The only person who could bear such a curse was Gojo Satoru. Where did it go wrong? And how could they start over again? The answer was left in their far-away, far-away youth. And even considering everything that had happened until now, it was clear that this story was about to end. But, there was one thing that was concrete. Even if everything was different now, there was still one thing that - from the very moment it all started - had never changed. Gojo knelt down, meeting Geto's eyes as he sat there. '...Suguru.' '...?' Geto Suguru. It was a named that the Jujutsu Tech organization feared: one of the four special grade sorcerers, who had killed over a hundred ordinary people, who had been named and exiled as the most evil curse use. But to Gojo Satoru, he was —— '————, ————' '...ha.' When he heard the words Gojo blurted out, Geto couldn't help but laugh. Such embarrassing (t/n: makes you self-conscious) words. Even why they were students, those words had never been said before. 'You should've at least cursed me a little before the end.'

In the actual manga of JJK too, Gojo tells a teenage ghost of Geto that if his adult self was there he was the only one who could have satisfied him. Gojo thinks about how he has to finally catch up to Geto after being left behind that day, when he moves on to kill the higher ups. Gojo's dream of protecting the youth came about because he never wanted someone to suffer alone like Geto did again.

Whereas, this is basically the only thing Yun gets told from his best friend and the hero of the story who is supposed to be the chosen spiritual guide of humanity chosen by the gods.

“It’s time to let go.” Kyoshi lowered her hands. “Whether you kill me here today or not, you have to let go of what happened.” “And it didn’t brting me peace. It was wrong that you were lied to, Yun. It was wrong for Jainzhu to do what he did, but he’s gone. Whatever pain and anger you have left - you have to live with it. You can’t put it on anyone else.”

Have you tried, uhhhhhh getting over it?

The "you have to live with it" is just particulary insensitive because as I went to great lengths to demonstate above, Yun was TRYING to live with it. Just like Kohaku, revenge was the only reason he could come up with to keep living.

It's fine if the heroes cannot find a way to reach out to save Yun in time and he dies because living for revenge is unsustainable. That's what happens to Kohaku, that's what happens to Geto. There's just a cruel lack of empathy in the way that Yun's death is framed. It's framed as a mercy killing, because Yun, a like eighteen year old boy who was retialiating against his abusers was just apparently so beyond hope. Not to mention that Kyohsi deliberately sides with one of the abusers and gives Hei - Ran a chance to redeem herself, but doesn't give that same chance to Yun her victim.

It's just this way that they characterize violence as bad but don't analyze at all where the violence came from or why they'd want to retaliate in that way. Gojo mercy killed his best friend Geto, but he also realized that the problem didn't begin with Geto and sought to create change in Jujutsu Society after Geto's death in order to try to break that cycle.

"I'm sorry for saying you have to live with your pain." Kyoshi put her palm into his chest in a gesture of comfort. "Because you won't." The cold she sent through his body formed a tunnel of ice between his ribs. It happened so fast, and with so much force, the air behind him turned to frost. With his heart and lungs frozen solid, Yun fell to the side.

Kyoshi kills Yun by freezing his heart. She specifically uses a technique that was taught to her to heal people, to murder him and put him out of his misery.

In the aftermath Kyoshi buries him and then lets the entire world remember him as a boy who went crazy and tried to kill the avatar. She doesn't even like... tell the whole story. That he was abused and lied to his whole life to clear his name.

Like, what a great friend.

This is what happened with Noel and Ciel too, but as I said in my Noel / Ciel post, Ciel killing Noel is meant to make her look like a terrible person. Noel is a victim caught up in circumstances, and Ciel could have saved her much earlier by lifting a finger and now that it's too late all Ciel can do is coldly put her out of her misery because Ciel isn't a hero. Shiki, a character who chops women into tiny little pieces has the opportunity to kill Noel a couple of times and doesn't do it, because he knows that killing her would be wrong and leaves it up to Ciel to decide.

Noel is fridged and dies a miserable death as a victim but it serves the greater story purpose of pointing out what a terrible hero that Ciel is. However, in avatar, the story still wants me to believe that Kyoshi is the hero so the only way they can accomplish that is by villainizing Yun and giving him an unsympathetic death.

if you wanted Yun's life to be some great tragedy, then you should let Kyoshi look bad. Let Yun died because Kyoshi completely failed to save him, have it be her wrongdoing. If you don't want Kyoshi to look bad, if you want her to be a hero then have her save Yun. You can only have it one way or the other. If the only way you can make Kyoshi still look like a hero is by victim blaming a victim of long term child abuse for not just getting over it then I don't know what kind of story you're writing there.

The writing just needs Yun to be a straightforward twist villain in the end for Kyoshi to defeat, so they downplay all of these good points and his status as the victim to make him fit into a more two dimensional role. If Yun is wrong because violence against his abusers won't solve his problem, then why is the solution for Kyoshi to just put him down with violence? Why is Kyoshi's violence sanctioned but Yun's violence not sanctioned? Kyoshi is allowed to kill Yun and put him out of his misery, but Yun can't kill his abusers? It's justice when Kysohi does it, but revenge when Yun does it? Kyoshi preaches that you can't stop the cycle with violence you have to let go then proceeds to end the cycle... by murdering Yun.

You can't preach this empty revenge bad message unless you're willing to look into why a character like Yun would want revenge in the first place, and how the world has failed him in ways that he thinks the only way to keep living is for revenge. You can't just tell him to let go without showing both him and the audience what letting go would look like.

This is exactly what Tsukhime did right with one of the most beautiful scenes in all of fiction, by showing that the cycle didn't end with Kohaku killing her abuser, and it didn't even end with Kohaku killing herself because each time she tried to enact revenge all she succesfully did was bring more pain into the world.

"But----" "Eh?" "But, there was just one strange thing." Really just a little bit. She said that as her eyes trailed off into the distance. "Akiha-sama protected me in the end. I knew there was a fifty-fifty chance she would do that. I stayed close to her for that reason. Revealing Makihisa-sama's abuse and devotedly helping Akiha-sama who was slowly turning nonhuman. ---Yes that's right. Really, I knew she would die protecting me." That smile. Even though she is smiling, she looks really sad, as if she's-- "But----I was really surprised at the time. Why is she protecting me? Why is she protecting me, risking her life?" ---She looks like she might burst into tears. "I still don't actually understand if I was actually happy or sad when Akiha-sama died. But when I wake up in the morning, I take tea to her room even though I know she is gone. Isn't this strange? Even though there's no one in that room anymore."

Kohaku thought she was relieving everyone of pain by killing the Tohno, that everyone would be better off, but the moment she succesfully kills Akiha she regrets it. It's all so hollow that she goes to Akiha's room every day for like a month leaving tea in front of her door.

Kohaku's identity is so wrapped up in pain, she forgets that in spite of the pain caused by those bonds there's also love. Hisui might not be able to smile because she feels constant guilt over how much Kohaku endured for her sake, but that doesn't mean Kohaku disappearing would fix that because she loves her sister.

Kohaku may think that Akiha is better off dead, that they're both better off dead because they only cause each other pain through their twisted connection but once Akiha is dead she goes to her door and leaves tea there every. single. day. because she valued her connection to Akiha so much.

Then she kills herself by gauging her knife out with a heart, mirroring Akiha who was pierced by the heart protecting Kohaku. "Hang in there...! Why, why did you do that...!" "Because revenge was the only thing I could do----I can only disappear when it's all over. I tried to find new springs, but I could never find one, and time ran out." She smiles. That... for no reason at all---- "What the hell is that? What are you saying...!" I look at the wound like I did to Akiha. ---She won't make it. It has pierced her heart. "........." Why? There was no reason---I just can't bear the sadness.

Revenge was unsustainable but because she couldn't be her genuine self in front of others, because she couldn't get in touch with her genuine feelings of affection for people like Akiha tshe couldn't find any other reason to live in time.

Even after Kohaku has just confessed to orchestrating the murder of Shiki's sister and terrorizing him for weeks on end, Shiki still begs for her to live though.

"...... Right? You're a normal girl who liked Akiha, was always worried about Hisui, and laughed when we talked about stupid things. So----" Even if she wished it and caused the deaths of Akiha and SHIKI... "--Kohaku, there was no reason for you to die." Increasing my grip, I say these words from the bottom of my heart.

I think that's ultimately what makes Kohaku's story superior, because it is at its heart a story about an abuse victim who couldn't find any better way of living. The story bends over backwards to show us all of Kohaku's good qualities, and how it's those good qualities that led to her fall, not any internal badness on her part. Even if Kohaku is someone who's capable of doing bad things and got a whole bunch of unrelated people serial killed by SHIKI. The tragedy is also on the onus of the main character. That's what the story of the ribbon is for, the whole thing could have been prevented if Shiki could give the ribbon to the proper girl in time. The whole thing is written with the premise that Shiki could have saved her, and he does in her route. It's as much of the main character's failure as Kohaku's.

On the other hand, the tragedy in Yun's story isn't that Yun is a longterm victim who didn't get the help he needed in time. It's that Kyoshi is sad because she has to put down her childhood friend like a mad dog. All of Yun's good traits are invalidated and he's painted as a villain to make the story simpler and as a result it's far more boring and doesn't have anything to say about abuse, or the human condition and how it survives terrible abuse like Nasu's writing does.

That's why Nasu is the goat.

At least until Tsukihime Remake comes out and Kohaku's route gets padded out with filler and turned into a giant extended boss fight that didn't need to exist at all that takes like five hours to finish NO I'M NOT BITTER ABOUT CIEL ROUTE'S TRUE END IN THE REMAKE AT ALL.

[quiveringdeer]

Kikyo for character bingo!

AYYYE! A different fandom, thank you hon!

okay so I used to actively dislike Kikyo back in the day, now I just think it's cause I feel like she coulda been more :/ I like her in fics especially when she's allowed to be way more spiteful or vengeful tbh I like her in toxic ships with Naruku cause I'm a toxic girlypop at heart

I super appreciate you sending this in!! 🧡🧡🧡

[greenaswildfire]

Alright, now that we have hotd as the "Black version" of the dance, I suggest HBO to do the same thing as MCU and give us a "Green version", idc, I want my Parallel Universe where Helaena doesn't help her son's murderer, where Alicent doesn't simp for Rhaenyra and gives Aegon up in exchange for idk, a targaryen finger in her bun in the forest, a version where Sunfyre is given the attention he deserves, where Aemond doesn't maim his brother on purpose. Keep the actors and the crew, they are fine, even the whitewashed ones. But as for the rest? impeachment, impeachment right away.

Even better, I guess fans can make their own fan-version of the Dance. That's what happened with THG and HP, there is a lot of "spinoffs" on YT made by fans and they're good. It's not like Martin will complain right, since he's so busy writing the books... oh no, wait lol

[my-mt-heart]

Why Explicit Caryl Canon Matters

Daryl and Carol (Caryl) fans make up a large portion of the spinoff's audience, and this audience wholeheartedly believes that Daryl and Carol are each other's only choice. It's in the writing. It's also reinforced by cast, crew, and EPs. For example, Norman has repeatedly said “If Daryl falls in love, it's forever."

There's a misconception that Carylers are a bunch of hysterical saps – fans who only want their ship "fucking under the stars" and only care about Daryl because of Carol, but that’s not true. In reality, Caryl fans are the deepest, most intuitive thinkers in the TWD community. To them, story matters. While they recognize and adore all of the subtext, they understand that it's supposed to lead to something worth the 13-year wait. They're expecting that major sense of relief and joy from watching explicit, undeniable, canon.

Explicit canon respects Carol's and Daryl's character development – individually and together. They started out way behind everybody else in life, convinced they weren't worthy of love. Daryl thought he was better off alone and Carol thought she was just a burden, but then they showed each other their true potential. Carol told Daryl he was a "man of honor" and Daryl taught Carol to have hope for a better future. They've struggled and suffered and strived to be good enough for each other. So, where's the payoff?

I understand not all fans want the same things, and maybe there's pressure to “keep everyone happy." Maybe it feels like a lose-lose situation. But from a marketing perspective, Caryl fans are a very reliable source of revenue for the show, so keeping them happy secures a reliable audience for future seasons of the show. They'll show up with their wallets out and their enthusiasm turned all the way up for Norman's and Melissa's nuanced performances. They'll create more fanart and other content. They'll make the show trend on Twitter constantly. Fans already adore Norman and Melissa, but explicit canon will amplify it further whereas keeping things ambiguous will cause a significant decline in viewership.

Ambiguity is the reason that the "I love you" scene in the flagship's finale got mixed reactions. For the fans who also struggle with their self-image, it was important to see Daryl and Carol overcome their own insecurities and finally "take whatever happiness they could get." But instead, many saw Carol's lighthearted "I love you too" and Daryl's departure as if they were both forfeiting what they always wanted. Daryl was submitting to his solitary nature again while Carol assumed she still owed a debt to her community and Daryl would be happier without her anyway. Both of them deserved a happy ending, or at least a piece of happiness to launch them into the next part of their journey. As far as many fans were concerned, neither of them got that.

That's why a lot of fans had a hard time watching S1 of the spinoff or opted out of watching all together. There were so many moments that teased the "possibility" of Daryl getting together with a younger, blonder woman nun while hints of Caryl's relationship were buried under more subtext. Keeping Daryl's feelings ambiguous just for the "fun" of shipbaiting cheapens Caryl's one-of-a-kind relationship, falsely indicating that their iconic beats can be recycled with someone else and still evoke the same passionate response from fans.

Ambiguity also perpetuates ageism and gives non-Caryl fans the excuse to say hurtful things to or about Melissa. Whether or not she's online to see it makes no difference because it still degrades her and it damages other women's perceptions of beauty and worth. Explicit canon on the other hand raises both Melissa and Norman up as two powerhouse actors utilizing their unparalleled chemistry to celebrate mature romances. It brings Daryl’s defining character traits to the forefront – the nurturing traits and the epic ones. It positions Daryl and Carol as equals, and it helps drown out the harmful comments against Melissa. 

Hopes for season 2 of the spinoff are high. Confirmation of Carol's and Daryl's romantic relationship in a way that needs no interpretation and no explanation from anyone offscreen is a dealbreaker. I know in terms of explicit canon, post-production can make all the difference, so it's crucial someone in a position of power pushes for canon that fully and unapologetically lives up to the fans' expectations, does right by the characters, and respects what Melissa wants.

[gritsandbrits]

In light of recent news over the passing of voice actress Arleen Sorkin, I wish to reflect on the impact of Harley Quinn on my life.

When I was a kid I grew with Harley. From getting fired from a tv show for giving questionable advice, as her backstory in the 2004 cartoon The Batman, to falling in mad love with her own patient as is the origin story in the 92 animated and subsequent media, Harley has such a big role in Batman lore I don't remember a single time where she wasn't involved. Sometimes I wonder what batman mythos was like before her inclusion.

The first thing that drew me to Harley was her design. Red and black the colors of danger which she was. But there was an added playfulness, that she genuinely enjoyed being herself. She was also VERY hilarious and at times out of pocket. Child Me was amazed. Did I want to be her? Not necessarily. But she did look like someone I'd hang out with.

The meta origin of Harley is just as fascinating. The creators of BTAS saw a performance of Arleen in a clown costume. From there inspiration leapt off the pages onto the big screen. Unlike most of the cast Harley didn't originate from the comics. She was created exclusively for the show, an OC if you will. OCs tend to have a mixed reputation. But Harley's concept and execution was so perfect, she almost feels like she could've been a real character in the comics.

And real she became!

Introduced as a psychiatrist, after receiving Joker as a patient, Dr. Harleen Quinzel begins to fall in love with him; and down a path to iconoclastic doom. Her love for Joker is obsessive, hilarious shallow, horrible but also downright entertaining to watch. I enjoyed every moment she was on screen: I still quote "rev up your Harley" to this day! I see her despair, her goofy outlook and morbid ruthlessness. I wanted her to get comeuppance but at the same time I can't help but feel sorry for her.

Joker abuses her, ignores her, and only complements her when she does something good for him. While the makes how awful their relationship clear, there are a good amount of fans who sees the pair as a glamorous whirlwind romance a la Sonny and Brenda or Jane and Mr Rochester. While such fantasies may seem morbid I don't blame them. No matter how horrible Harley is there is a tiny unavoidable spot that aches for her to win. Or at least see Joker for the monster he really is. While Harley is often held accountable for her actions her arc shows that no one deserves to be abused.

Arleen's performance played a major role in brining Harley to life. She nailed her weaknesses and strengths with such a sincere note that elicits pity, humor and shock at the same time. And of course that ear candy of the New Jersey accent that set the standard for future VAs. Whenever I look at a picture of Harley I hear Arleen. Not to say the other VAs aren't bad, but Arleen's performance is that iconic I can't help but think of her!

Over the years Harley grew apart from Clown Prince of Crime. She got her own spinoff comics, made appearances in other DC media. She even gotten her own tv show which sees the DC universe through her eyes. Harley has marginally healthier romances, primarily Poison Ivy (this isn't to say that pairing doesn't have it's share of toxic moments). The Harlivy ship is a fan favorite but even without shipping and the wars, Harley still shines bright as the Bat Signal.

In a way Harley's descent and eventual rise back to normalcy reminds me of my own struggles. I wasn't a happy child growing up, I've made a lot of mistakes and bad choices. To see a person like Harley work to take back control of her life, makes me feel a bit better for my own prospects. Of course I wouldn't torture a kid to near insanity or blow up a whole city but I can at least put my energy towards something constructive. Harley shows people like me thay we can be more than just screwups if we try.

Of course I can't forget Harley's design. The red&black suit is an icon by itself and inspires similar designs in and outside comics. I could talk all day about how cool her design is from a show and historical perspective but that would take me all day. While I prefer her classic palette, her recent blue and pinks aren't bad either and show just how far she's come out of Joker's shadow. It's even to the point where when, I see something black and red and white I have to point it out and say "Harley would love that outfit!"

Nowadays I complain about the oversaturation of Harley quinn (seriously what was DC thinking taking a team started by a disabled character to reclaim her agency) and overshadowing other cool DC villains. But I would be lying of I say she didn't leave an impact. And it's all thanks to Arleen Sorkin for breathing life into a character that proves you don't need to be be from "the comics" to be considered cool.

Thank you Arleen! May her memory be a blessing - Grits.

[crimsonxe]

Me: Seeing Evermorrow and Dust Queen that look interesting -excited hopping in my seat-

Also me: Seeing that in the first the shitlord Syto is listed as a "casting aid" and that the obnoxious know-thing CRWBY bashing piece of shit that is Celtic is voicing Roman in both -nearly breaking my neck from shaking my damn head so hard-

In what fucking world do either of these shitlords that have shown everything except being fans of the show have any ground to be involved in any fan projects? Like these aren't even "questionable", they are straight up shitbags that have gone after CRWBY themselves.

Lets go over it:

They bash the show

They bash CRWBY

They fail at having a grasp on the damn show, characters, and relationship within as they fail repeatedly at understanding things in it and stating blatantly wrong or biased bullshit about it.

They have shown themselves as sexist & homophobic

They have shown themselves as disgusting assholes with bloated ego's that aren't deserved at all

Celtic doesn't even fit as a voice for Roman

Celtic who has obnoxiously and ridiculously stated how he's a better writer than the actual RWBY writers. I can't remember if he actually name dropped them, but honestly it wouldn't be shocking if he did. The guy that thought up "faunus heat cycles"; Velvet x Cardin; Cardin having an "actually a good guy deep down" angle; asspulled Roman back to life & linked him to fucking Oz as if that works in any damn way; did a sauna scene to have fanservice; had Blake essentially become a cop; Ilia getting harsher judgement; decided Shay D. Mann deserved an entire character arc (biggest insult is that creepass having a romantic relationship with Raven who is sooooooooooo damn beyond his level its unreal); repeatedly shoves the femme MC's behind males; etc thinks his ass is a better writer.

As aside: -pulls camera to full face cam- Celtic if you run across this, you aren't at all. You're not even close, you're just another incel chud peddling in right-wing-isms that lead to disgusting ass elements in your bullshit.

Celtic has a history of problematic elements within his "Ruining RWBY" bullshit

Syto tried to poison the well going into v9 via realizing what everyone else did in that Bees were coming and him trying to paint the pander angle that ignores the 10 years, 9 volumes of work put into BB leading up to said vibes people had about their becoming official.

Syto who tried to do Cherish his AU spinoff and failed; tried to do his own project w/o anything to do with RWBY and failed; and scurried back to another RWBY AU project

Syto who basically dived into the idea of Yang being an airhead party girl throwing out her entire true self. Not to mention his redesign sexualizing her in the exact aspects one would expect from an incel shitbag. Barely anything there waist, barely anything there top, massive cleavage.

Like these shitbags should be nowhere near fan projects. Don't give them normalization as if they aren't what they are.

[alientater]

I have so much to say about s3 of bridgerton so I’m dumping it all into one post. Take my dumbass opinions as a writer for what you will 😂

- first foremost thank you my QUEEN Nicola for your confidence and courage (I am no better than a man 👀). I feel like this whole season was a reminder for me, through both Pen and Colin that bodies that look like my own (Pens) deserve love. I can’t even begin to tell yall how much watching people swoon over her body specifically has made me 🥹 blush because my own looks so much like hers.

- I absolutely adored how devoted Colin was to Pen. Watching him realize his love for her in all her forms, with all her flaws was absolutely adorable and wonderful and beautiful, and it, in its own way, comforted me that the more masculine side of my self can be the romantic, the devoted, the loving person that I am as well. Both his little speech in the carriage and his love confession at the end are now living rent free in my brain.

- I know many people think they should have cut some of Benedict’s scenes but I’m against that opinion. I ADORED his character development this season, and I think it served well as a break in the tension of the plot. you will NEVER catch me unhappy to see a bisexual king living his best and horniest life.

- I’m so glad Pen got to keep her Column. The books end with Colin revealing her identity and I’m so glad they changed that. So much from the book was changed to give her more agency and I’m so so so happy about that.

- Genuinely, I’m so excited to see what happens in Scotland with Francesca and Eloise and Michaela and John!! I have a suspicion they’re going to make it another spinoff show like Queen Charlotte, and then we’ll get Benedict’s season (which 👀💕 I have no clue what they’ll do with it but WHATEVER it is I will be parked in front of that TV the SECOND it drops). Whatever it is they have planned I have a sneaking suspicion we’re finally going to get some sapphic romance 👀 so.

- I absolutely cannot stand the hate this season is getting online. I really think it was well done, and I enjoyed every second of it.

- I do wish they’d shown a *few* more spicy Polin scenes (or maybe made the end one a bit longer bc HOOOO boy 👀 I needed about another full 5-10 minutes of her riding him lord GOD almighty I need a glass of WATER). BUT they really didn’t get any more spice than Kate and Anthony did last season (in fact they had quite a bit more I’d say), and I know we’ll see more of it next season hehe 😈 so 😏.

- John dying is literally actually physically going to break my heart when we get to Francesca’s storyline. ALSO I think I really…. I want her to fall in love with him wholly and completely too. I think she has in some ways. I hope in her story, they explore the very real love between them, mostly because I adore his beautiful lil autistic ass.

- I really wish they’d brought back Daphne and the duke a bit more to help violet and Fran a bit. I think Daphne specifically would have really helped soothe that relationship.

- can we get an Eloise Benedict swing scene every season?? Plz? For me? I adore their queer sibling bond so so so much.

- I’m so glad Pen and Eloise are on good terms again. Their friendship breaking just really…

- also, on Eloise, I adore the character growth I saw her go through this season. I think she’s really learning how to see and love the people around her for who they are and it’s so beautiful. I think people were right about her self absorption to a certain degree but… every character has flaws. No one is really infallible. And I think I went through a similar growth, learning how to check and weild my priveledge, and it’s comforting to know I’m not alone in some of the mistakes I made

- I have so many feelings about Cressida Cowper. I know she’s a bully, and I disliked her originally, but something about this season made me…. Sort of like her. First of all, she’s so cunty and I absolutely LOVE that for her. Her outfits are 😮‍💨 every single time. The SLEEVES on those dresses. Like. I really hope she has character growth of her own. Also. You can’t convince me that woman isn’t a femme lesbian. I want to see her set up a nice little estate and live happily ever after with a woman she loves, honestly. I feel like it was really realistic and fascinating to see her schism with her family. I hope she doesn’t take her mother’s advice to heart. That she breaks the generational curse and learns to be both kind AND cunty 😂. I hope Eloise and her make up somewhat too. I just. I don’t want her to be the villain. The pressures of society are their own villain.

- Bring back Edwina Sharma and her Prince can we start a FUCKING petition bro.

- two people in on that show that no matter what they are being paid, are not being paid enough 1) the COSTUME designer and 2) the intimacy coordinator. Every five seconds I found myself saying “god that dress” or “oh man, I need that waistcoat”

- I love that the writers chose to make the featherington sisters more than just… jokes? Philippa especially. She really had some of the best breakout lines of the season “insert himself where” GIRL “Farley, now! the bugs!!” SHES SO CUTE and Mr Finch baby boy so are you and your love for her 🥹 it’s just so wholesome. I love that Shonda really has showed through this show that even with our eccentricities, we all deserve to be loved, appreciated, cherished.

- we stand by Portia featherington. She really made the best of some SHITTY as situations, and we love her for that. It’s so important to me that she’s not the villain either. That she and pen worked things through, learned how to support each other, and that Portia apologized. I think she’s definitely…. Let’s say morally gray but how morally grey really is robbing the aristocracy? 🤫. I honestly? Kind of hope she finds a love match, or finds happiness in her singleness without having to rely on a man. That she learns to live in her power.

- Did I mention how devoted Colin is to Pen? Can we return to that? My FAVORITE moments of this season were the ones where he is so absolutely down bad for her that he can barely speak bc ME TOO baby boy. ME TOO. and that it’s pen. This season was for the girlies who never get noticed, who never had boys crush on them. Who have to make do living vicariously through others, who have to learn to love themselves, because the world does not seem to.

- can we bring back lord debbling? Lowkey…. I kinda liked him. I need him to be Cressida’s beard for real 🤫

- the mirror scene THE MIRROR SCENE 🫠😮‍💨😰🤤 I…. I have so many feelings. I keep hearing people being like “it was so cringe” but? I think I loved it because it felt so…. Realistic? I found myself loving it because it was so… slow and sweet and intentional and it was in every way an extension of Colin’s feelings for pen. He loves her enough that he treats her with only the most kind, most slow and soft touches. He considers her pleasure before his own (which, god is that dreamy I wanna be this man SO BAD). He talks her through. he appreciates in every way she SHOULD be appreciated. I’m just. I’m never going to be over how fantastically luke played him. How fantastic Luke and Nicola’s chemistry was. Can we appreciate the shots angles looking down on Penelope too bc oh man. Oh boy. Jesus Christ she would be walking ME like a dog to if she looked at me like that Holy Fuck. Also the THIGHS the TITTIES (👀 respectfully 👀 RESPECTFULLY). The little sneaky views of Colin’s butt hehe, the way Pen GULPS when she sees Colin (girl SAME). It reminded me so vividly of my own first time. it made me miss being that young and… idk. I feel like sex scenes often feel fake or unrealistic and the ones in this just felt SO real.

- on that topic can we all just appreciate how much Kate sharma is getting her cookie ate bc 😂 lord only knows she deserves it. ALSO. Petition for next season: I ABSOLUTELY need to see Colin on his knees doing the same for Pen 🤤👀 bc you KNow that man is a service top, and she deserves it.

- genuinely genuinely. I’m so afraid of the show now getting canceled because it has openly queer characters 🥺. I’ve fallen in love with it and it’s like there’s this dread, in the pit of my stomach, that it’s all going to end prematurely because people are already acting so shitty.

- I need violet to have her own spinoff with Marcus 👀 and CONTROVERSIAL OPINION (not controversial) I need their sex scenes bc 😳 LORD . I am not. ahem. I am sinning looking at lady bridgerton like this 😂

- I loved lady Danbury and pens exchange at the end of the season and they’re great friends in the books! I hope it develops more!

- how does Jonathan Bailey so convincingly play a man utterly in love/ lust with his wife as a gay man 😂. Also. Anthony’s little “LILACS”? Still thinking about that lol.

- I’m so glad Eloise didn’t tell Colin about pen being whistledown.

- really wish we’d had a wedding night sex scene 😅

- pen wearing a full set of acrylics and riding that man’s dick is….. god. I have been given a gift.

- Need Need NEED more of the Mondriches, just being happy and finding their place. Their ball this season was fucking fantastic.

- the end camera shot of Colin and pen kissing in front of the window she always watched him from 🫠🥹💕 I’m actually sick it’s SO PERFECT

- I knew Penelope was going to have the only boy 👀😏 called it hehe

- I think one of the things I love most about the show is just… seeing women support and uplift each other and work through things. Talk about the hard things. That’s how we grow as people.

In conclusion, I know many people disliked a lot of things about s3 but I, personally, adored it. And I also know why the writers cut what they did, and did what they did. I honestly think if they’d just added a few small things it would have been perfect. There was so much happening this season it felt overwhelming almost, and I think if I were to say if there’s anything to learn from this, it’s that they need to slow down. Focus on and give each plot its share. I wish I could give Bridgerton an infinite budget for infinite episodes to do whatever they wanted bc I know it would be good. ALSO if I have to endure a month wait like that again I’m actually fucking rioting. I liked the anticipation but it felt too long and just…. Idk. I think an episode a week would be a better way to stretch it if they wanted to keep that ploy. Anyways. If anyone’s actually read this far, I’m so sorry 😂. And to all the people griping… get a grip. It’s a beautiful show and the writing was honestly fantastic. just enjoy the media for what it is im actually begging you. If this show gets canceled because of something as trivial as not enough Polin sex scenes and having actual queer representation in fucking coming for ALL OF YOU.

Peace and light

Annika

[an-indecisive-nerd]

Okay so for What's Your Story since it's the one I'm actively working on I'm trying not to do introductions or anything for characters that I haven't yet introduced in the actual draft, because this helps keep me focused and motivated and stuff.

The problem with this? I can't introduce my son one of my favourite characters yet because not only is he not going to be introduced for a hot second but he is just absolutely drenched in spoilers.

But I love him he's my sweet baby I want to rant about him so bad.

Is he also the villain and a terrible person who would break every bone in my body and step over my broken corpse? Yes. Yes he is.

Does that make me love him any less? Absolutely not, he's my baby boy and I love him so much he just needs a bit of therapy, because I have put him through so much shit. Like he makes the mc's trauma look like a picnic.

My poor boy. I love him, therefore I've destroyed everything he loves and made him a villain.

To be fair a lot of my favourites are "villains" in some capacity.

And he's such a sweetheart when he's not being an evil little shit. And even when he is being an evil little shit he's kind of amazing, like this man is iconic, I'm worried I won't be able to do him justice when writing him because he deserves so much better than me but also if anyone tried to take my boy away from me I would bite them.

He's getting his own spinoff by the way, it's the newest addition to the outline. It's going to be called "Villains Have Stories Too" and it'll be about him and my other favourite villains and how they got here.

I love him so much, he's the best. I would die for this man tbh and he doesn't even exist. I might need therapy, but this isn't about me, we're talking about my baby.

I love how at the start I said I couldn't rant about him and then I just did it anyway. He's too good not to get at least one rant though, and he just decided to invade my thoughts for the past couple days so now those thoughts are being word vomited onto Tumblr. You're welcome.

I can't wait for his parts in the book because honestly any narrative he touches instantly becomes better. He is my favourite child and I'm finally owning up to that. All my other children can suffer. Still love you kids though. At least most of you.

I probably should never be a parent. My favourite fictional child is literally psychopathic. He's an angel though, I love him. If anyone hates on my boy I will do nothing to stop you, just know that you are factually incorrect.

This post is permission to go on a rant about your favourite character. If it's more chaotic than mine you get official ain brownie points

@thelovelymachinery @unforgettable-sensations @littleladymab @megamijadeheart @my-bright-legacy

@ominous-feychild @thecomfywriter @wyked-ao3 @anamelessfacelessnerd @differentnighttale

@mysticstarlightduck @the-letterbox-archives @leahnardo-da-veggie @paeliae-occasionally @tr4sh-p4nd4-404

@lovey-dovey-wovey @sidon0isnt0here

[notalkingbusiness]

It's been a long two years.

The creative decisions, marketing, and spin surrounding DD and TBOC have made me seriously question my place here. This saddens me as I've invested more time in TWD than I have with any other show. It feels like treading water. Like I'm floundering in the sea, waiting for someone to throw me a life jacket. I just want someone to reel me back into the safety of the ship.  

I feel like we’re all floundering in our own way and that’s why fandom has been such an incredibly hostile environment since 2022. I’ve seen fans lash out at those who express concern or ask difficult questions about TBOC’s worrying direction of travel.  I’ve seen fans downplay glaring issues and use denial as a coping mechanism: some fans can see that something is deeply wrong with how Caryl is being positioned and marketed, but they pretend that everything is fine or will be fine eventually. "Sure, Caryl might not go canon in TBOC. Sure, they might not have a good arc *this season*. Sure, TBOC might not live up to expectations, but Carol and Daryl are together again! That's all that matters!"

Guys...what are we doing here? You wouldn't have to make all of these qualifications if tptb were giving you an emotionally satisfying story. It makes me so sad when I see people desperately trying to spin straw into gold. You deserve better. You deserve so much more from a show which is supposed to champion and celebrate your two favorite characters.   

The way I see it is this: when you like something, you don't have to think about it. You have an instinctive reaction when you genuinely enjoy something. You have an instinctive reaction to quality storytelling, positioning, and marketing. When you watched Caryl's iconic scenes for the first time (let's say the Terminus reunion), you didn't have to think about why you liked it. You were too busy being caught up in the emotion of it. It immediately felt right because good storytelling speaks for itself.

On the other hand, if you're doing mental backflips to justify why certain things are "fine, actually!" then things aren't fine. Take the title of the spinoff: "Daryl Dixon: The Book of Carol". When that title was originally announced there was widespread confusion, disappointment, and anger. Importantly, even Carylers who were broadly supportive of DD expressed disquiet upon hearing this title. For a moment, pro-DD Carylers correctly identified that the show was not positioning Carol and Daryl as equals. That Carol had been relegated to the sidelines. Some people later talked themselves into liking the title - I felt so sad when I saw people twisting themselves into pretzels to explain why the title was acceptable. Guys, you wouldn't have to do this if they'd just given us a decent title. If we'd been given a title that positioned Caryl as equals, we would have had an immediate and unambiguously positive reaction.

To be clear, this isn't a call out post. But if you are one of those pro-DD Carylers? I want you to remember how you felt when you first saw that title. Because that confusion? That hurt? That sinking feeling? They were authentic emotions. You knew something was wrong when you saw that title. The same way you knew something was wrong when you saw all the nun-baiting in DD.  

I wanted Carol/MMB to return just as much as anyone, but I also know that Carol's/MMB's presence can't save this show alone. I fear that TBOC is going to feel like seasons 8 and 11 of TWD. Yes, Carol's there. But as we've seen in the past, presence doesn't equal quality storytelling. It's like a win on a technicality if they're not interested in using Carol/MMB to their full potential.  I'm deeply worried that Carol/MMB will be relegated to the sidelines - in the same way that Carol has been relegated to the sidelines in the title. Let me say that again: she's been relegated to the sidelines in her own show. I'm not privy to what goes on behind closed doors, but I have a hard time believing that "Daryl Dixon: The Book of Carol" was the title pitched to MMB when she agreed to come back. 

I'm not interested in watching a show where Carol and Daryl are physically present, but they are emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually absent. I worry that I'm going to feel like I'm watching alien body snatchers rather than watching Carol and Daryl. Sure, they look and sound the same, but something is so off about them. I'm worried that they're going to feel like strangers to me. I'm going to be looking at them and thinking, "Where are those characters I used to love? What did they do to you?"

Let me say this: if you're angry or sad about the way things have turned out that doesn't make you a bad fan, you know? It doesn't mean you're bitter. It just means you know when you're being mis-sold. Don't let anyone make you feel bad for having standards. 

There will always be a place in my heart for Caryl, but there’s no place in my wallet for AMC. I’m not interested in watching Zabel’s alien body snatcher versions of Caryl. Wanting Caryl’s story to be penned by someone who understands the characters and cares about their story shouldn’t be a big ask.

[denimbex1986]

'“The Giggle,” the third and final Doctor Who 60th anniversary special, was more than just a laugh. After two adventures with David Tennant back as the 14th Doctor, a bout with the Toymaker and a nasty U.N.I.T. laser forced him to regenerate again. But just like last time, this wasn’t a normal regeneration: the 15th Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, split from the 14th Doctor like a cell undergoing mitosis.

While this was an exciting development for those hoping for a Tennant-led spinoff, it caused a lot of questions about just how the timeline works, and most importantly, what happens to the 14th Doctor when he inevitably dies. But one line from the episode may reveal a theory that could solve everything.

After the 14th and 15th Doctors come to terms with the “bi-generation,” which was previously thought to just be a myth, the two figure out the logistics of how their co-existence will work. While 14 is giving him a tour of the Tardis, 15 reveals why he thinks the bi-generation happened: because the Doctor has never stopped to rest.

All the Doctors just kept running never stopping to feel their feelings or cope with the massive losses they’ve encountered over the years. “But you're fine,” 15 says. “I'm fine because you fixed yourself.”

This seems to mean that 15, as he exists now, has all the memories that 14 is going to make with Donna and her family, and is benefitting from his previous self-care. If that’s true, that means that when 14 dies, he will simply cease to be — his regeneration into 15 is simply an advance on what would have happened later.

There’s even more evidence for this theory if you know where to look. Donna tells 15, “He's younger because you came after him. So you're the older Doctor.” If the two truly were “born” at the same time, that would make them the same age. But if 15 has the lived experience of 14, then he’d be a good deal older.

Like every good Doctor Who plot twist, there’s timey wimey stuff involved — in this case, a good old-fashioned bootstrap paradox. 15 tells 14 he needs to take a break and get better because that’s what he was told, so there’s a time loop going on. Much like the DVD extra in Blink, that statement has no origin: it exists in a loop, folding in on itself.

It may have completely torn up the Doctor Who playbook, but this theory could actually restore some order. We won’t see two branches of Doctor regenerating on their own divergent paths from here on out. Instead, the 14th Doctor is just sticking around a little while longer and enjoying a well-deserved (semi)retirement.'

[funishment-time]

what i would personally want from another DR game

(note: not all at once, since some of these are Mutually Exclusive in fact ha)

realistically:

preferably not a Killing Game. this sounds like Blasphemy but DR was never "about" Killing Games. i'll accept it if it happens, but i'll be Very Skeptical. there's plenty to say about that universe and its themes without throwing another new 16 into the mix. leave that to the Fangans, as i think only Fans can produce something that feels fully "new" w/r/t Killing Games now

preferably uses mostly characters we already know with some great additions. a la UDG

could be serious or a spinoff. racing game, RPG, rhythm game, fighting game, game where we use the Kumas like Pokemon...

if a spinoff, would prefer it still has something of a Narrative to it where everyone's somewhat in character, even if it's silly. think Usami forcing Kamukura to participate in Dangan Kart and he does because he's Bored or some dumb shit like that. give me that Stupid Content

just...another game with Kodaka's involvement specifically. this is filed under "realistically" because Kodaka has recently stated he would like to do it, and that after v3, he was on break from Danganronpa, not Done With It 5ever. considering he still does Birthday Posts and constantly answers questions about DR, he is clearly quite attached still, but ultimately by his own admission it's up to Spikechun

non-realistically:

End of HPA/adjacent timeline. IF, Everyone Is Here UTDP/Summer Camp etc

as a corollary to the above, would prefer that it is not V3's timeline. and V3 is, in fact, a Separate Timeline/"setting reset" according to Kodaka. it is not a retcon/continuation of previous games. BUT: i think that world would be best explored in novels/manga via the Rantaro series Kodaka wanted to do. BUT: i think if it is explored, it will be in a game

further: would prefer an Everyone Is Here game. it would unite the fandom, from old-time fans to folks who came in mostly thru V3 and stick to it

however, of these personal wish fulfillment settings, i think the most realistic of them is an IF-like timeline, esp if released on the 15th or 20th anniversaries. what better way to Celebrate than with everyone from DR1 being alive

Kyoko game that's like Ace Attorney because i don't know it'd just be funny. can you imagine. can we use Komaru to channel Yui

i want a Mukuro game but that's not going to Happen

unless???

???:

female protagonist that lives. for real this time. could be a new one or not but the Universe Needs Balance. Komaru and Kaede need one more for their team!!!

a UDG-type game in that it Expands on an existing character who desperately needed it. this is under ??? because i imagine no one expected Toko to get her own game that transformed her from kind of a Joke Character into a Fully Fledged Baby. even Kodaka admits he didn't know what to do with her in the latter half of DR1, and she became one of the most Beloved Girls in the franchise in her game

Miu:

Miu

please Kodaka

give her the Arc she deserves

pls............

[pandomawards]

Best Peter

Lovely art by @chaosgremlin95 (Angel) and @silly-lil-fool (Pen), ugly graphic by me. They look like game show contestants.

Angel belongs to @chaosgremlin95, being the Peter Pan in TNC and the Golden Arrows spinoff.

Pen belongs to @silly-lil-fool, being the Peter Pan in WNI.

*The word best here implies a common favourite, not that one is better than the other.

In the server, Vampeter, owned by @/yokaishinari came 3rd and Roswell owned by @/jayisabluebird came 4th out of the four nominees. I will not disclose Pen and Angels placings as not to sway public bias.

PROPAGANDA, feel free to submit ur own for either one.

Pen:

Honestly the first fan made Peter Pan to really make the rounds on Tumblr, he's an icon, synonymous with the Pandom. Our most famous, everyone else wanted to be Pen. He's the BLUEPRINT. Pen created something we should all aspire to become, a pioneer of Pans. Pen WNI is Influential, inspirational, iconic. Vote Pen 2k24 - @thecringefailintherye

Pen was my introduction to the fandom, He is the sweetest, silliest and absolute most freakish of little guys. I think my gravitation towards [a very pen-style character] comes from my need to keep Pen with me forever! - @chaosgremlin95

Angel:

-He has such flavor; the core personality traits of Peter Pan the same but shown in a different light! He is selfish in his weird attempts to be humble, he is cocky while constantly being put down and sad, 🤌🤌🤌

-his design is super creative and unique, giving him a distinct vibe from any other version

-is both a little guy and a wet meow meow at the same time

-has actual canon written/beautifully illustrated story to go along with the he!

-dramatic ahh nickname of the “Angel of Death” (from Hook no less) that’s just perfect for him

-*slaps the roof of him* this bad boy can fit so much tragedy inside of him

He deserves to win, he deserves some love

MY BOY DESERVES EVERYTHING!!!!! - all from @silly-lil-fool

i GOTTA GO WITH ANGEL!

The boy is probably the only Peter in history that learned his lesson BEFORE the story starts. Granted he's still a mess every day - @chaosgremlin95

Good luck, boys!!

[my-mt-heart]

Here we go again...

I'm going to echo what I said on Twitter about "The Big Three" post on my blog since this is where I feel safe speaking up. I'm very sorry I had to direct it at Valhalla who have been Melissa/Carol/Caryl fans' biggest ally on social media up to this point, even using #TheBookofCarol tag to let us know they see her as the main protagonist that she is. I'm also very sorry that as of today, we've reached the two-year mark since the news of the original spinoff's cancelation and this fandom still has to fight for the respect that they and Melissa herself have more than earned. Again, this is why we need a new showrunner with the intuition and authority to change the messaging on the show and on SM, so that Caryl fans not only feel safe, but also eager to watch, pay for, and engage with new material.

I saw that Valhalla acknowledged Carylers' complaints on their post. I wasn't expecting that. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think any other official account has ever put the needs of the fans over their own need to save face, so I respect and appreciate that. The comments were filling up with voices from other parts of the fandom trying to give Valhalla an out, but it's easy for them to ignore or in some instances mock the issue because their favorite character is represented and they get the satisfaction of a character they hate being left out and her fans being upset about it. It's easy and probably fun for them to accuse us of throwing tantrums, invalidating a very real source of pain for many of us.

There is a long history of fandom bullying and ageism directed at Melissa/Carol/Caryl and their fans to the point of many people, including Melissa herself, having to leave SM. The other factions claim we're a minority, but in reality we're just less active in public spaces because we're made to feel like we don't belong. Caryl fans are very much like the characters in that way and unfortunately other fans and other official accounts take advantage of that.

What happened exactly two years ago has broken our trust and our spirits even more. A lot of us are teetering on the edge of leaving because we're tired of being gaslit and strung along. We're vulnerable and we have triggers. In order to keep engaging with TWD content, we have to feel like its worth it, which means we need to know that the show and everyone affiliated are meeting our needs: that Melissa and Carol are acknowledged for the HUGE impact they've had in the story since S1, not how much they are marketed, and that Caryl is treated like a valid ship.

We need strong leadership for that. Valhalla is a female-led account, so they have the authority to tackle the issues that the actresses and their female fanbases face. A female showrunner would help with that as well. TBOC is fast-approaching. The promotion should focus on hyping the core audience of that show, not alienating them further. We deserve so much better. Melissa deserves so much better. Caryl deserver so much better.

[vexingvorta]

Majora's mask should've been a spinoff rather than a direct sequel to ocarina of time. It could've been Ganons origin story for fucks sake, he literally was Just Some Guy once. Like just... Just imagine with me for a minute.

You are Ganon. You're the first man born to your village in a hundred years. That comes with a LOT of pressure, placed on you since childhood. Its not enough that you exist: they need you to be their king, a position you are far from ready for. When you come of age, you decide to do what all the other women do, you leave. Both to find yourself, and to find some momentary reprieve from the stresses and responsibilities you were meant to grow into.

You travel to another kingdom, Termina, where you become wrapped up in this FUCKED UP time loop. You die, over and over, one of the only people who remembers anything, one of the only people who can do anything to stop this terrible fate from befalling the world.

Eventually, you do it. The moon is returned to its place in the sky, the mask is sealed away once again, and you go home, tired and traumatized.

You saved the world. And nobody cares. No one gives a fuck, many of them don't even know what you did. As if the entire thing never happened. Traumatic years of your life had been maybe a week for the rest of the world.

Maybe you were around the mask for too long. Maybe its dark powers left an imprint, a deep scar on your mind. An itch you could never scratch. Or maybe... Maybe it was the people. The people who don't know, who don't care, what you went through for them.

Maybe YOU deserve to inherit the world, it was about time they paid you back for your good deeds. You saved this fucking world after all, what right does some bloodline king who's never gotten off his ass have to rule?

And then you find out about the triforce. This fairytale you've heard since you were a child is actually, factually, real. You can make this happen. And why shouldn't you? You don't just deserve the world, you ARE the world. You're why this world exists. You already may as well be a god, why shouldn't you inherit the power of one too?

You have to exist in this thankless, selfish world that only values you for what you can do for it. You deserve to exist on your own terms. You've fought tooth and nail for it already.

Im just saying, Majora's Mask would be a lot better, and OoT Ganon would make so much more sense, if he was who you played. If it was a prequel/spinoff rather than a shoehorned sequel. What if, rather than being some evil thing destined to be evil just because, what if he had his own reasons and motivations?

What if he looked at link, a child in the body of a man, who has for all intents and purposes, been through the same as him, and sees himself reflected in his tired yet determined eyes? Do you think he'd mourn what he'd become? Do you think he'd understand what would happen to Link, no matter how this went? Do you think he'd see himself as too far gone to stop now, or do you think he'd consider killing Link a mercy? A mercy he himself had not been granted, no matter how much he cried to the goddesses for help?

Do you think, when Link lands that final blow and he's taking his final breath, that he looked to the sky and shed a tear, thankful for it to finally be over?

Do you think when Zelda sent Link back to live a cursed childhood, he finally understood Ganon?

[marshallpupfan]

Going Back to my Rubble & Crew Theory...

Back in December of 2022, I wrote up a theory based on how Rubble's backstory might link up with his yet-to-air-at-the-time spinoff, "Rubble & Crew". If you like, you can click here and check it out. If not, here's a recap of what I said.

Rubble's family had a big, big job. They were incredibly distracted and inadvertently became neglectful of their youngest, Rubble.

Due to his age, Rubble wasn't allowed to help. He didn't get why everyone was gone so often, thought no one loved him anymore, believed himself to be on his own, and ran away.

Months pass. His family can't find him and later accept he might be gone for good... but deep down, they never gave up hope.

Rubble encounters Chase, Marshall and Ryder. Rubble impresses Ryder during a mission and later joins the PAW Patrol.

A year later, Rubble's made a name for himself in Adventure Bay, but nobody thinks to look for him in such a small town.

The events of the first theatrical film happen. After being involved in a big rescue in a big city, Rubble & the other pups end up on the news and are regarded as heroes. This news broadcast is seen all over the country.

Rubble's family sees this broadcasts and finally discover their little Rubble's alive, well, and has grown to become an experienced construction pup.

They quickly head to Adventure Bay to meet up with Rubble. Many hugs and tears soon follow.

The family apologizes for neglecting him, but Rubble also apologizes to them, realizing now the burden they had and why they were gone so much.

The family wants him to come back with them, but Rubble says he has a new family now and they all love him, thus he doesn't know what to do.

Conveniently, they have a new job in an upcoming town called "Builder Cove", which just-so-happens to neighbor Adventure Bay. He doesn't have to pick which family to stay with now!

Keep in mind, I wrote this before knowing that much about Rubble & Crew or even how things might continue in the next theatrical film, "The Mighty Movie". All any of us knew was A) Rubble now has a big family, and B) "Builder Cove" is new and will neighbor Adventure Bay. I took a pure guess based on these two details.

I thought it'd be fun to go back and see just how the spinoff connected with Rubble's backstory, as well as just how much of it I got right! Here's a list of what they did...

Rubble suddenly has a big family because Spin Master said so.

All that stuff about Rubble being alone and not having a family? Well, never mind that.

Look, just pretend "Pups Get a Rubble" doesn't exist, even though it still airs on TV and can be found on Paramount+.

And there you go! I was....... 0% correct! :D

...no, really. I'm not trying to be cynical. That's honestly it.

While I haven't seen much of Rubble & Crew (I've seen exactly two episodes, and only because Marshall and Chase were in them), I have heard others talk about them. And yeah, going by what they've said, they really did just flat-out ignore Rubble's backstory. Out of lazy convenience, I imagine. That's a shame, if you ask me. To think, I put in way more effort than anyone at Spin Master.

Viewers, and that includes older fans, love these characters. You want them to have some meaning behind them, and backstories often accomplish this. However, they lose that meaning when the very studios behind their creation disregards these details whenever they feel like it. You all know I'd love to learn about Marshall's history, but I want it to matter and not just be something that pops up for a single plot of a movie, never to be references again... or simply tossed aside when it becomes inconvenient to a writer. I feel like these characters deserve better than that.

Well, what can I say? Hey, that Rubble & Crew episode involving Marshall was pretty cool. Wait, what does this have to do with this post? I don't know... but have a cute pic from that episode, anyway.

[komoreibi]

Did you read tokyorev spinoff "Letters from Baji Keisuke"? If you did, could you write some fluff headcanons of Ryusei with a very kind and shy reader? If you didn't, can you write the same with Mitsuya?

Thank youu and have a lovely day😗

i do read!! also writing this made me kinda fall for ryusei woopsies LOL anyways thank u for sending this in 🥹 you have a lovely day too! // gn!reader btw~

.・satou ryusei with a kind and shy reader (hcs)

honestly it was a Huge shocker when people found out you had a crush on ryusei for whatever strange reason

you, the sweetheart of your school, had a crush on the boy who… wait who was he again? he never comes to class… but he looks dangerous!

and when the news got around to ryusei, who said he wouldn’t mind giving it a go, your friends were like “🤺 back off! 🤺 stay away, delinquent!”

anyways. ryusei is a perfect example of ‘you fell first but he fell harder’

he went into the relationship thinking “ah this’ll end in a week or two”

but then you brought him homemade cookies and ate lunch with him, and you noticed a cut on his hand (from a fight)

you were so quick to pull out bandaids, tissues, and a little bottle of disinfectant from your bag because you had a feeling he would have at least one or two injuries.

the way your gentle hands worked on his bruised and scarred knuckles instantly had his heart fluttering and ryusei blurted out

“has anyone told you how lovely your hands are?”

then he saw the way your eyes widened and your cheeks turned pink before you smiled warmly and shook your head “this is the first time!”

oh ryusei is so WHIPPED bro

he felt his heart stop and his stomach flip and even he was blushing a little

that aside

ryusei definitely thinks it’s adorable how you’re so shy and he totally teases you for it.

he walks into class at lunch and puts his arm around you and “hey, how’s my adorable s/o doing?”

and enjoys how you begin stuttering and blushing and are unable to meet his eyes

and then he tilts your chin up so he can give you the biggest kiss!

cue the gasps from your friends

ryusei is also definitely the type to sneak into your room at night to cuddle.

late night visits where he walks up the many flights of fire escape stairs and climbs in from your balcony.

“ryu-kun, change first before you get in the bed, you’ve got outside dirt on you!”

“alright alright. thank you for the fresh clothes, babe. you’re the best you know? <3”

he loves how you always let him in and bring him a little drink (usually just water or tea)

and once he’s cleaned up, he’ll hold onto you and immediately fall asleep and grrrr he’s so soft for u because he really just feels safe when he’s with you!

he just really loves how you’re so sweet and kind.

it’s a stark difference from what he usually experiences in toman and… his past which we haven’t explored yet. 🤔

i might eat my words in a couple of weeks

he has to always put up a front in front of the guys as a vice captain, so he can’t really express himself,

but with you ryusei just feels like he can be himself.

he says the sweetest things and talks about his worries all night

and even if he knows you can’t really do anything about it, he already feels better just having your words of affirmation and feeling you stroke his fluffy hair.

on the lowest key... he feels like he doesn’t deserve someone as wonderful as you. he doesn’t understand how you fell for him in the first place.

but ryusei would do whatever he could to continue keeping you by his side. even if that meant fighting a hundred men on his own <3