#like you spent all this time developing them as a hero and having morals and life lessons and all of that to go the other extreme and havin

[ethanhuntfemmefatale]

spent a bit of time today writing out some thoughts on ford as a character and thought it might be fun to put them here. I think ford is a really interesting commentary on heroism and his role in gravity falls is specific and pointed. theres a lot more i COULD get into (the way he and Stan act as foils for example) but here I just want to explore the fundamental ideas of his arc which includes parts of his dynamic with Bill Cipher and Dipper.

I really love the way gf combines the ideas of the lone hero/adventurer (a classic hero trope) with the ideas of the mad scientist (a classic villain trope) to reveal the way they're really based in similar lines of thinking and emotional pitfalls. Ford's isolation & paranoia, his tendency to put his own body on the line, his (relative) willingness to endanger others for his cause...it all points out a neat overlap between the guy who wears all black and carries a gun at his hip and the guy who WOULD inject himself with some kinda substance in the name of Science. I think that's part of why from what I've seen the fandom can be pretty conflicted on Ford--even on a basic design level, he evokes strong and conflicting feelings.

A key moment to me in establishing the ideas of Ford's arc happens at the very beginning of Weirdmageddon--a strange point to choose maybe since it's so late in the show, but I feel like those three episodes beautifully encapsulate Ford's failures and his development. After realizing what's happened, Dipper is desperate to find Mabel and make sure she's all right. Ford tells him, there's time to find her later--right now we have to stop Bill before the weirdness spreads. I love the way that the show presents throwaway moments like this: they're not questioned in the moment, but they stick out to you anyway because they run so counter to the philosophy of the show. Through the past 2 seasons, not only has the show proven that saving Mabel is more important than stopping Bill, it's also proven (and proves again after this) that saving Mabel is essential to stopping Bill. Evil isn't defeated by one guy being brave enough to shoot a gun at it, it's defeated by a community that works and fights together. And, hilariously, Ford is captured within the first 7 minutes of the episode, making everyone else's jobs way more difficult.

To be clear, it would be a complete misunderstanding of the character to say that Ford prioritizes stopping Bill first because he doesn't care enough about Mabel or her safety. It's precisely because he cares so much that he doesn't look for her right away. Ford has bought thoroughly into the lie that Bill fed him, which is that devastating personal sacrifice is not only right & good, but necessary in order to accomplish great things. As long as Ford believes that lie, he remains Bill's perfect prey—even with a metal plate in his head, even 30 years after the initial manipulation. Ford will easily give up sleep, food, friendship, family, sanity, and his own life, if he can be convinced he's doing it for the right reasons. And he's very easy to convince! Ironically, despite being arguably one of the most formidable characters in the show, he's also arguably the weakest and most gullible of the main cast, because he's so obsessed with the idea of giving up everything for something greater than himself.

That lie of the moral necessity of self-sacrifice, the lie that makes it possible for Ford to give up his brother, lock himself in his basement, be angry when he’s brought back home, and nearly destroy the world, is heavily in the offing through the Ford-Dipper plotline of Dipper and Mabel vs the Future. Ford offers Dipper apprenticeship and tells him that he’s capable of handling it—but it would require personal sacrifice, giving up his childhood with Mabel to join Ford in his self-imposed isolation. A test of Dipper’s aptitude for that kind of sacrifice occurs in that episode: Ford nearly dies, and orders Dipper to let it happen so that the rift is kept safe. Dipper doesn’t even think before disobeying him. He doesn’t seem to consider it a decision. There's no thought of the greater good when his uncle needs him.

Later, talking to Mabel about the idea of joining Ford as an apprentice, he says how ridiculous it is--sees it for a fantasy. The image of heroism Ford presents is appealing, but it's a lie.

For Gravity Falls, a show with two central protagonists, a show arguing over and over that the only way to change things for the better is to work with, trust, and care for your loved ones, Ford's position is an interesting one. I'd argue that thematically he stands in a more relevant antagonist position than Bill Cipher. He represents everything that the show is poised against. He's set up carefully as the epitome of Cool, with a masterful buildup to his entrance, badass styling, and hero worship from Dipper (the closest thing GF has to an audience insert.) And then, slowly and subtly, the show reveals how the lie of the lone hero has convinced him to hurt himself and everyone around him, nearly to the point of destruction.

I love him dearly. The best awful guy of all time

[avengerscompound]

Shared Experience - Chapter 6

Shared Experience - A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Rating:  E

Warnings:  vampire stuff

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Rose Astor

Word Count: 2224

Summary:  Rose Astor met her end in 1920, joining the ranks of the living dead two years after the birth of Steve Rogers.  A century later the two meet in battle - a beacon of light clashing with a creature of the night.  Despite their differences, the two bond over their shared life experiences.  Can a vampire become an Avenger?  Can two such different beings create a life together?

Chapter 6

Training with the Avengers was much more enjoyable than Rose had expected.  She had expected to feel like an outsider to the group.  They had already had time to form bonds and they were heroes.  She was a newbie and a monster.  She’d expected to be treated at best as an outsider, and at worst as a beast that needed to be kept on a short leash.

It had been quite the opposite.  They’d figured out a way to accommodate her needs, they did their best to make sure she was comfortable, and they made sure when training ended, she was included in the group conversations, even when they were about personal things like who was dating who.  It wasn’t long before she realized that the Avengers were good people, - flawed but good.  She had grown to believe goodness didn’t exist in humans anymore.  Even back when she was human, she hadn’t been truly confident.  Her grandfather had built a hotel specifically to block out the light to his aunt’s house.  She wasn’t surrounded by the most moral of people, despite being expected to be a pillar of morals herself.

It was nice to know that decency did exist.

Steve had been the real surprise.  If anyone had told her she’d grow close to Captain America one day, she’d have thought they were crazy.  Yet, the more they spent time together the more she liked him.  Every day he’d walk her home after training and they’d listen to records together and talk.  Their lives had been so different and so similar.  She had grown up rich and spoiled in Manhattan, and he had grown up poor and abused in Brooklyn. Then when they were still young something had happened that had given them superhuman gifts, though he had been blessed with life and she was cursed with death.  Yet, even with the differences, there were intersections.  They had shared experiences from their youth.  They’d been to the same places at around the same time.  They had a shared culture.  They knew what it was like to lose everyone and what it was like to think you were going to keep losing people over and over.  They were like two sides to the same coin.  Dark and light.  Hot and cold.

She started to look forward to training.  Not because of the training, but because it meant she got to spend time with people she thought of as friends.  More than that, she looked forward to the end when she got to spend time with Steve.

Training was not easy.  That in itself was impressive.  With her preternatural speed and abilities, there was very little that physically challenged her.  It was why she would push herself like she did the day she met the Avengers.  The Avengers all had their unique skills and they pushed them and developed them so that it didn’t matter what they were up against, they’d have the upper hand.

She liked the challenge, but it did sometimes mean that the limit she tested broke rather than stretched.

Tony Stark had released a blast that skirted so close to Rose that she felt her skin blister as it passed her.  “Watch it, Stark!” she shouted.  “I’m highly flammable!”

An alarm sounded and the training program shut down and both Tony and Steve approached her.  “Are you okay?” Steve said, holding out his hand to her.

She held out her burned arm and he hissed as he turned it to see the burns down her arm.

“Holy shit,” Tony hissed.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t think you were made of lighter fluid.”

Rose started laughing.  “I don’t know if I should be offended by that or not.”

“Should we put something on it?  We have burn ointment,” Steve offered.

Rose just shook her head.  “No.  It won’t help.  When I eat, it will heal.”

“Oh we have some blood for you,” Tony said.  “FRIDAY!  Can you get that sent up?”

“Right away, Tony,” the AI replied.

Tony pulled up a holoscreen in front of him.  “I’m gonna design you a suit,” he said.  “We need to do something about you getting burned so easily because in a battle there’s going to be a high probability of fire.”

“That’s why I don’t want to go into battles,” Rose snarked.  “I thought I was going to be doing spy stuff.”

“Still,” he said. “Better safe than sorry.”

“Alright, everyone,” Steve said, letting Rose’s arm go.  She pulled it back against her, part of her wishing he was still touching her.  “We’ll call it a day there.  It’s late.”

“Rose, we’re going to Valhalla - the bar that is - with Thor,” Clint said.  “Do you want to come?”

She looked down at her arm and shook her head.  “Not tonight.  I’ll have to rest with this.  Maybe another day.”

“‘Tis a pity, Lady Rose,” Thor said. “But I am always up for more drinks in the future.”

There were general shouts of goodbye and goodnight as most of the Avengers went to the elevator.  As they got on, a bot got off and wheeled over.  When it reached Tony the lid popped open and Tony pulled out a silver bag.  “Oh gross, it’s warm,” he said. 

“Mm… just how I like it,” Rose said, taking it from him.  “Thanks, Tony.”

“Sorry about the arm,” he said.

“It’s fine,” she said and held up her still-scarred hand.  “I’ve had worse.”

Steve flinched at the memory.  “Alright, I’ll walk you home,” he said.

He and Rose said goodnight to Tony who went back to his screen and the two headed to the elevator again.  When they were on board, Rose stabbed the bag of blood with the straw provided and began to drink from it like it was some kind of horrific Capri Sun.  Steve shuddered.  “God, I’m never going to be able to get used to that.”

“I know.  I wouldn’t normally do it in front of you, but -” she held up her arm.

“I know.  I know.  It’s fine,” he said.  “It’s better than when I saw you with that guy.”

Rose scowled and went back to drinking.  She didn’t want to apologize for what she was again.  It was getting exhausting.

“I’m glad Tony’s designing a suit for you,” Steve said.  “It’s good to have some protection, even if you don’t end up needing it.”

“Yeah,” she agreed.  “Everyone’s been really nice.”  She paused for a moment and took another drink from the pouch.  “You know, I knew his grandfather?”

“What?” Steve said, blinking at her in surprise.

“Not well,” she said.  “He was eight years older than me.  But he was from money, I was from money.  We went to the same parties.  Given the wealth and his eventual aspirations, in a world where I hadn’t met my maker, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’d have been set up at some point.  As it was I think he married one of my third cousins or something.  They built a mansion on 5th Avenue.  Right next door to the Presbyterian church.”

“I know that building!” Steve said.  “Oh my god, I can’t believe how small this city is!”

She laughed.  “Yeah.  Sometimes fate seems to be pulling a lot of little strings.”

The elevator stopped and Steve and Rose went out a side door to avoid the paparazzi.  Rose tried to avoid anywhere there would be cameras.  If the paparazzi took a photo of Steve Rogers with a woman only for the woman not to show up in the photos, it wouldn’t take long before vampire hunters tracked her down.

She finished the bag of blood less than a block from the tower, balled up the bag, and shoved it into the first trashcan they passed.

Steve fished it out again “That’s a biohazard,” he scolded.

She huffed and rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said, holding her hand out for the bag.

Instead, he tucked it into one of his pockets.  “How’s your arm?” Steve asked.

She showed it to him.  The burns were all gone, and all that was left to even indicate she’d been burned in the first place was what looked like a deep tan.  Steve shook his head in disbelief.  “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“There’s a guy in Harlem that’s bulletproof,” she said.  “There are weirder things than me in the world.”

“That’s true,” he agreed.   “Look at Tony.”

Rose snorted and covered her face in shock.  Her reaction made Steve start laughing, which in turn made her laughter return.  “That was very cute,” Steve said.

“Excuse me,” Rose argued.  “I’m a vicious vampire. I’m not cute.”

He laughed again and put his hand on his chest.  “My deepest apologies.  I won’t make that mistake again.”

“So,” Rose said, quickly changing the subject.  “Race you?”

Steve grinned at her and nodded.  They stared at each other for a moment and almost as one took off.

Rose scaled the side of a building as Steve followed after, using the fire escape to parkour up the side.  When she was on the roof she took off, running as fast as she could and leaping from rooftop to rooftop with Steve hot on her heels.  From time to time they had to descend to the street again to cross wide streets or when there were too many high-rises of differing sizes.  When that happened they ducked in and out of people, who were finishing dinner or heading to bars or nightclubs.

As they came in line with the park they were able to stick to the rooftops more and Steve began breathing heavily as he pushed himself to keep up with Rose.  They reached her mansion, and Rose went to grab the door handle to the rooftop door.  Steve’s hand ducked in to block her and she spun into him, laughing.  “I won that!” she squealed.

“I don’t think so,” he said, his hand on her hip, as he supported her.   “My hand is on the doorknob.”

She laughed and pushed him. “Fine.  You win.  This time.”

She unlocked the door and they descended the stairs to her living room.  Steve went to the records right away as Rose took a seat in a plush wingback chair.  He selected a vinyl and took it to the record player.  Sliding the disk from the cardboard cover and setting it on the turntable.  “You know, I never really got to play records back in the day.  Just listened to all my music on the radio.  Bucky and I would go into record stores when we’d see them, but we never had the money to play them.  God, if we’d known you back then, we’d have been here all the time.”

“I’m eighteen years older than you, Steve,” she said.  “That would have been weird.”

He laughed and dropped the needle onto the vinyl.  “We should invite Bucky over.  He might like to go through my things too,” Rose said playfully.

Soft piano chords started and Steve held out his hand to her.  “If you don’t like me doing this, you just have to say.”

She shook her head but didn’t move to take his hand.  “I like it.  It’s like discovering it all over again.  You start getting used to things.” 

Frank Sinatra’s voice joined the soft piano and strings.  ‘There are those who can leave love or take it…’

“Come on,” Steve said, still holding his hand out.  “This is one to dance to.”

She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet.  Steve circled her waist with one arm and held her hand up against his shoulder with the other.  She put her free arm on his shoulder and as Sinatra crooned the lyrics to ‘I fall in love too easily’ the two slowly swayed together.

She couldn’t take her eyes off his.  The steely blue held her attention so it felt like she was going to tip right in.  She could hear the steady beat of his heart, and the rush of the blood through his veins.  It called to her in a way that had nothing to do with her need to feed.  The slow romantic music only added to it and she didn’t know if she wanted to bite him or kiss him, but she knew that neither was appropriate.  There was no way that Steve could see her as anything other than a monster.  Not when he was still so hung up on the fact she drinks blood.

It was too much and she went to pull away.  “Rose,” Steve said softly.  Even the sound of her name on his lips called to her in a way that she was sure he didn’t mean.  She looked up at him, willing him to take pity on her and let her get some space between them.

Instead, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.  She froze in place, scared that if she did anything, he’d stop.  She parted her lips and he teased his tongue into her mouth.  She leaned forward, pressing her hands against his chest and moaning softly.

The song ended and seemed to break Steve out of the moment.  He pulled back and looked at her.  “I’m sorry,” he said.  “I shouldn’t have.”

She shook her head and pulled him into another kiss.

// NEXT

[doodlegirl1998]

I don't know if you already talked about this, but what're your opinions on Hawks?

Because for me, while he's far from being one of the worst BNKA characters, he's still pretty low for how both narrative and writers treat him.

For one, he's an Endeavor simp. Which wouldn't be a problem if the story tackled how he must've felt about learning that the person who saved him from his abusive father is an abuser himself. But it doesn't and he still stands by his side, which REALLY questions his morality and just how much the HPSC has branwashed him.

And then there's the whole fiasco with him and Twice. I'm on the camp that he didn't have to kill him, ESPECIALLY after the character development he got.

Not once did he ever think about the time he spent with them and think "Maybe we were wrong about them, maybe they aren't as bad as we thought." But no, he still carried on and killed a man.

Now again, none of this would be a problem if the narrative actually called him out on this and he actually suffers consequences. Such as his wings being burnt to where he's essentially left quirkless or faces public backlash... but none of that happens.

Instead it's treated like he did the right thing when this series is supposed to make us question what really makes a hero and if some of the things they do is really right.

Well that's apparently out of the window if him killing a man is justifiable in these people's eyes!

Hi @theloganator101 👋,

My opinion on Hawks is that I really, really don't like him.

Now let me explain why:

Missed Potential

Hawks's set up is interesting, a HPSC spy, being raised in an abusive manner to be a hero at the cost of his identity. The spy angle also made it look like he could jump ship to the villains side at one point, it was heart warming to see him (seem to) genuinely like Twice for a time.

Then he betrays and kills Twice. I didn't like that.

But it could have been interesting to have seen the fallout of this.

Had Dabi succeeded in permanently disfiguring Hawk's when he burnt his wings off in retailation.

Had the HPSC threw Hawks under the bus as their scapegoat once they realised he was of no further use to them.

Had Hawks experienced a moral crisis / breakdown for having killed a good person (someone who he liked) essentially for nothing because he could have captured and put him in jail instead.

Had Hawks been horrified by the fact that his idol was a child abuser to a similar degree as his own father.

Instead we have the Rotting of Hawks character.

Canonically instead of any of these interesting plot points we have the phenomenon I like to call the 'rotting of Hawks character.' This is where he degrades from a character with an interesting premise to someone flat and aggravating to read.

There are several reasons why this occurred:

No consequences are experienced from killing Twice.

Hawks remains a hero (they are in a time of war) but Hawks doesn't even lose any popularity, if I remember rightly. He killed a man running away in cold blood when he could have knocked him out! Come on!

Hawks doesn't lose his wings or voice permanently from Dabi's attack. He gets a new hair cut and rugged new 'sexy' scar... From being burnt to shit by blue flames. Come on Hori!

To add insult to injury Toga's Twice clone only manages to give him a couple of small scratches in her final fight when she should have been gunning to kill him this whole time.

And Hawks thinks of Twice's memory as a good guy who supports his friend to turn around and support an admitted and powerful "Hero" child abuser... Just fuck off.

When Hawks sees Toga's Twice clones he just yells to kill them again... Wow...Do I need to elaborate how much character stagnation this is and how much I hate it?

After the interaction with Lady Nagant all Hawks's interesting dark edges are scrubbed away to become - Endeavor's bootlicker. *Shudder*

The way the HPSC was essentially killed off screen never to be mentioned again marked the beginning of the death of the interesting Hawks we were introduced to - more Hawks's flashback imagery is linked to that damn Endeav doll that I want to set on fire rather than elaborating on what the HPSC training IS.

Hawks is stagnant in adoring Endeavor and experiencing no conflict supporting a 'redeemed' child abuser despite being a child abuse victim himself which is irritating to read. Especially since we are meant to see this as sweet... Not some type of unhealthy projection on Hawks end.

He doesn't die when he should do and this just nulls all stakes...

Hawks doesn't die to Dabi back in the war arc (although he probably should have), he doesn't die in the near death moments he had against AFO in one moment it turned out to be a projection all along which killed all excitement for that fight.

The worst that happens is Hawks loses his wings to AFO, Tokoyami who is a complete innocent in all this, also loses his quirk to AFO. Hawks doesn't suffer alone here. Add on to the fact that AFO is a bastard who likes to steal quirks and this really isn't a consequence - rather a occupational hazard of fighting AFO (this action also bites AFO in the ass later.)

Furthermore, Hawk's 'wins' such as the rebelling of the Vestiges in AFO caused by Vestige Hawks just feel unearned and like asspulls recently.

All of this means that Hawks is now a character I don't like but also don't care too much about because Hori killed everything interesting about him. Hori also doesn't have the balls to actually kill him off and risk upsetting his stans.

So I am now stuck having an internal groan now nearly everytime I see him on the page.

[unfair-water-plane]

I’m very new to talking about things online, but just wanted to share a headcanon.

After the events of ME:3, humanity has to start rebuilding. Arcturus is gone, very likely much of earth’s governance is gone or indoctrinated beyond the ability to lead. They are going to need new faces in high places, and whose is chock full of people who have shown their mettle? The Alliance. It’s natural that leaders will rise from military places, and that can be dangerous. It’s so easy to go martial law when everyone is…well, martial.

But you know who probably be okay with leaving the alliance? Who has the moral fiber to stand not just for earth but as a leader for the whole galaxy? Who has not just the trust of the Spectres but has earned their way among them, and who they know will not treat them like cannon fodder in the rebuilding of everything?

That’s right, introducing humanity’s new councilor:

Kaidan Alenko.

The way I see it (and your mileage may vary, I’m basing this on my own experience if not service), if I had busted my way all the way to N7, was an operational commander and had a frigate no one had the balls to take from me I would be in no hurry to just end that rise. I have a headcanon that N7 is hell in career growth since they don’t drop a bundle on training and then promote you out of the field, so Shepard’s probably primed for a life of spec ops service with Commander, or maybe Major eventually, as his high water mark.

Now add in the fact that your husband (because you know the minute Shepard managed to open even one eye Kaidan was welding a ring on that finger) is going to be humanity’s councilor. He’s going to need someone in his corner who is unquestioningly loyal, fiercely protective, and has once a month spa dates with the Shadow Broker.

But I think Kaidan is like be so good at that role. He’s a natural peace maker, has spent a lifetime developing control over himself and his action. The first time one of the other councilors starts to just pass down uncollaborative mandates Kaidan drags them all aside for six hours of methodical debate and a galactic sized MCPP. By the end of the first month he’s completely eliminated standing on the platforms and holding condescending debate in front of applicants. Round table discussions with home planets, involved parties and unbiased observers becomes the norm. There will never be another ‘cruel and unfortunate truth’ moment with Councilor Alenko demanding the mindset of respect through service.

(And in the background, completely uninvolved in the discussion but never too far away during the emotional debates, Reaper Killer and Galactic hero Commander Shepard alternates between staring at humanity’s councilor like he hung the stars and seeing how quickly he can intimidate an end of a meeting at the first sign of a migraine).

Anyway, that’s just my two cents. Wanted to get it out of my head.

[ilikekidsshows]

Out of curiosity, if you were in charge of writing miraculous, how would you write Felix?

---

I'm not too interested in Félix, so I haven't spent much time thinking about how to improve him. So, I think I’ll just tell you what I thought was gonna be Félix’s deal, based on info Félix’s first episode appearance gives us alone.

First of all, no human Sentimonster nonsense. That's bullcrap.

So, based on the episode ‘Félix’, we know he's morally loose, really good at stealing and has weirdly good reflexes and moves like Jagger a ninja or something. With the associations with "black cat" characters in superhero media, I thought the reveal was gonna be that the Graham de Vanilys are a master thief clan and the power and influence they gained through stealing valuables and info were the reason Félix's dad took their name when he married Amelie (before they came up with "Fathom"). The twin rings were either some family heirloom, one of the the few things they'd earned honorably, or actually imbued with some power that could further enhance the abilities of a master thief, and the Agrestes used these rings to get their hands on the Miraculouses. And Félix wants the rings because he feels he is the rightful heir to the Graham de Vanily legacy. This puts him at odds with his superhero cousin, naturally, because Félix wants to steal his parents' wedding rings ("So low, Félix"). And, with the fact that Adrien's family is full of black sheep and he is the white sheep established, that would further exemplify why he can be trusted with the classically a villain power of decay and destruction. Adrien’s personal code of ethics is that resistant to corruption. Félix popping up with new stolen magical artifacts every time would also create a new rogue for the Miraculous villain gallery, something I have repeatedly said the show sorely needs. This kind of character could easily generate superhero plots as he develops a personal vendetta against the heroes and so his schemes increasingly start to be about humiliating them. Maybe you could even throw in some delicious dramatic irony that, as Félix's ire gets more and more directed towards the superheroes, his relationship with Adrien improves.

[lotus-tower]

the most important factor when shipping things that aren’t outlined or implied in canon or where the characters don’t have much canonical dynamic going on is how much it strengthens and adds to an existing situation. everyone and their mom knows joui 4 is real in a way few other anime Main Character Group polycules are real. and I genuinely am invested in sakamoto/takasugi even if they’ve only interacted 1.5 times. and that’s because of the following mathematical premises:

1. takagin is (obviously) real

2. takazura funny never married divorcees

3. everyone falls for sakamoto because of his SS rank charisma stat

what we end up here with is the following situations, all of them funny and therefore good:

- sakamoto threw up in gintoki’s face upon their first meeting and gintoki developed a crush on him anyway and ditched his childhood friends to hang out with the handsome new guy who’s really annoying and talks too loud. and who also threw up on you (takasugi)

- despite this takasugi doesn’t hold it against sakamoto because no one holds it against sakamoto. sakamoto’s allowed to do that

- zura also doesn’t hold it against sakamoto. however he Does hold it against takasugi and develops numerous fascinating complexes about takagin’s existence (and probably his ntr kink in the process)

- sakamoto and zura get along just fine but zura isn’t sakamoto’s type even though sakamoto likes dark haired women who would work as hostesses because zura out-bokkes him

- however this makes him gift him elizabeth. he was never even mad at takasugi and he made a tender flashback shounen promise with gintoki and just never got them anything. and after he met up with them again he continued to not get them anything. except pickled daikon. after he knows gintoki probably got heavily traumatized by the events of the plot he still doesn’t get him anything or text him.

- takasugi has no opinions about ginzura. I don’t think he thinks zura is capable of having a genuine relationship (funny thing for him to think of another human being). and I think ginzura is mainly concentrated in the present where takasugi has used the highest grade exorcism talismans to seal off his panels from any encroaching ���gintoki having unspoken feelings and tender tension with old friend from his past” aura

- gintoki is a character born to get into funny situations where he’s in cartoon boxers and interacting with implied femdom gags. he’s a guy we see on a leash and with underwear on his face. he’s a guy who claims to be a virile shounen jump hero but needs to bottom for genre health and also his own health. but he’s stuck with takasugi and zura who both want/need him to top them in different ways. gintoki doesn’t want to deal with it. he wishes sakamoto would elope with him and they could go to sci fi vegas where he’ll drink a lot and forget everything. however sakamoto leaves him on read

- both zura and sakamoto think they were the guy who had to clean up after gintoki and takasugi’s messes and mediate between them. zura felt like it as a conflation of how he felt like a third wheel. sakamoto was genuinely mediating because both parties actually liked him.

- the only guy everyone likes as a blanket rule is never around and doesn’t talk to anyone except zura, because zura knows everyone’s contact information. but he also won’t share

- you know that infamous scene where gintoki and takasugi both picked the same woman at the brothel. and where takasugi (gay boy) spent the whole night unmoving in the corner. okay forget those two have you thought about how zura felt that night. and probably many other nights. he would Never engage in such a morally crass activity. going to the brothel would pollute his samurai soul—sakamoto is also there of course. sakamoto loves brothels. it’s just zura. alone. at home. all his men gone out. leaving just him. in his tent. well it’s fine. it’s his principles vs their degenerate tendencies. they’re all out having sex without him right now…………… even… takasugi………………….

- (takasugi is not having sex)

[questioningwriter]

Based on this prompt

(I figured out why my posts weren't getting the coverage they were getting on the original blog. It's because I was an idiot who didn't give them tags!)

(Morally Grey was not done, so you get this. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!)

Triangle

"Can I ask you something?" Henchman looked up to see their boss, Villain, looking down at them uncertainly.

"What is it?" Henchman put down the tablet they were holding, which detailed all of Villain's plans. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"No." Villain slumped down into the chair next to them. The two were in Henchman's "office" - an area near Villain's own office. Being second-in-command got you special privileges, it seemed.

"The truth is - well, I'm still unsure if this is a dream." Villain looked off into space. "Hero confessed their feeling's for me."

Henchman choked on the coffee they were drinking. "Seriously?" They asked. "Hero. The one you've had a massive crush on since you started fighting each other, shares your feelings?"

"Yeah." Villain leaned back. "Truth be told, I'm not sure how to feel." They admitted. "I mean, I'd spent the past 5 years obsessing over how I looked when I fought them! And now that it's real..." They shrugged. "I don't know how to feel."

Henchman stared in shock. "They thought they'd have more time. At least a couple of months to work up the nerve to tell Villain.

"Henchman?" Villain's hand was suddenly against his forehead. "Are you feeling okay? You're rather pale."

Henchman took a deep breath. Now or never.

"Ilikeyouto!" They blurted. Villain mouthed the words, then blinked.

"What." Their voice was strangled. "You like me? The same way Hero apparently does?"

"Um." Henchman shifted. "Well, I mean, all types of love are different-"

"Don't give me that shit." Villain said sharply. "Do. You. Like. Me."

Henchman hung their head. "Yeah." They said. "I guess Hero and I have a common interest now." They joked.

A strangled sound came from Villain, and they looked over to see their boss was pale. Oh shit, bad timing.

~

Villain never thought they'd be the center of a love triangle. But first Hero, then Henchman confessed to having a crush on them. What the fuck were they supposed to do now?

Hero'd blurted it out while Villain was explaining their latest plot. Henchman had said it now. And now Villain had to choose between the two. The one who they'd had a crush on for 5 years, or the one who they'd known - and had by their side - their entire villain career?

"Villain!" Henchman was looking at them with concern... and something else. Something scary. "Are you okay?" They asked.

"I never knew." Villain said, dazed. "I never knew how you felt."

"To be fair to you, it's a relatively recent development." Henchman admitted. "I noticed it the first time you came home from a fight with Other Hero seriously injured." Henchman shrugged. "I got really protective of you. And I made sure you had encounters with them as little as possible."

Villain recalled that. They'd been confused that they were suddenly hearing very little from Other Hero.

Villain managed a nod. "What else?" They croaked.

"I treated your injuries personally instead of sending you to the infirmary." Henchman confessed. "I tried to be there as much as possible."

Villain needed to be alone. "I-I need some air." They gasped, fleeing the office, with Henchman watching after them, a concerned look on their face.

[foolsocracy]

I love felicia. Why is she written like that. How is she so badly and well written simultaneously. I hate it. I hate her. Its bad. Its good. Why did they make her sleep with noir. Why is she reduced to an object. She's so much more than this and I know it. She's more than her relationships with men. But also they're so vital to her in ways no one understands. I'm crazy about her.

felica is unknowable. she is an enigma but ive been itching to talk about her.

There's a lot about her that I do really like! She has great bones for a complex character and if there was more source material I feel like she could have had more time to be understood and explored.

I really really wish that there was another woman present she could have riffed with. Spider noir is a man-fest which makes her really man-centric because thats all she's got to work with. Its a huge disservice! I do understand that nightclub life and working with powerful NY politicians and criminals will lend itself towards men, but come on now. Easy spot to throw Gwen into (fanfics love to do it lol), or even swapping the gender of someone else like they did with Jean DeWolfe.

I love that she runs a speakeasy which lets her get right in the middle of soo much information. And historically this can pull really well from 1920s hostesses.

In fact, one of the most highly developed skills of nightclub hostesses in New York was their ability to fleece unsuspecting customers. Trained by their bosses "to get as much information as possible from prospective suckers regarding their bank accounts and business," hostesses come on to male patrons with the express goal of "mounting the check." "After enough money is spent," one hostess recounted [...], the goal is to get "the sucker drunk and the works [will] follow." (Dry Manhattan)

[at high end speakeasies] these hostesses earned tips and commissions on the checks they mounted, often as much as one-third of the total, which could bring them from $150 to $400 a week. (Dry Manhattan)

And this was during a time when the average yearly income was $3,269.40. I could totally see her finding her way like that in the early 20s before opening up a place for herself w/ all that money. The only shitty part is it makes her an accessory to men, plus w most of the story being told from Peter's POV we aren't privy to her thoughts. I think because she's basically the only woman with agency that her narrative relationship with men is so bad tasting.

Her character has so much beneath the surface. She knows everything about everyone!! and we never get to see it because she's jaded and secretive and doesn't trust anyone like that, especially not a dumbass teenager with a death wish.

AND HER RELATIONSHIP WITH PETER. don't even get me started. 1) WHY? They didn't have to go there. I know I know its a noir trope. As per the BBC the first rule of Film Noir is "A Dame With a Past and a Hero With No Future." And the Spiderman Noir team committed to it. If only they didn't commit so hard to Felica making multiple comments about how much of a kid Peter was after she was introduced as his mentor's ex. There has to be at least like 15yrs of an age difference between them.

but theres also the flip side that the noirverse is obviously fucked. Media doesn't have to be 100% moral and whatnot (especially in a noir setting), but it doesn't mean i have to root for pete and felica as a romantic couple LMFAO. Ive seen people rewrite their relationship as the strangest, oddest, most fucked up dysfunctional family and you know what i'll take that.

even having that aspect of her character being something where its telling of her past/present, where she doesn't know how to separate pete, a (frankly) dangerous person she needs to keep tabs on and know his secrets, from everyone else she works with. She's been so deeply enveloped by her need to keep herself one step ahead, to have physical power over another in any way (the only way) she knows how, that this is the means she resorts to. but of course we dont know any of that because they didn't bother delving into her more. it does make for a dimensional character at the very least. now if only she wasn't the only main woman.. so that character arc doesn't seem so sexist. and if only pete wasnt so fucking young my gooodddd. but thats what we're working with. such is life

[thefirstknife]

Is it just me or are there less morally gray characters on our side now?

By that like: Drifter's more openly altruistic, Mara is opening up and respecting boundaries, Nimbus is super good etc.

All seems left is Spider. (idk if Clovis could be considered morally gray perchance)

Like I'm not against character development & hope and kindness but.

I miss having shifty people, bastards and the like around to muddy the waters

There's definitely less, yes. I would still classify Spider and Clovis for sure, but a lot of the characters have since been kinda forced to pick a side. As Osiris told Rasputin in their cutscene:

A line has been drawn in this system. Light on one side. Dark on the other. Where do you stand?

I think this was a question in general to a lot of characters, not just Rasputin. I also really love shifty characters, but as we near the end of the story, there simply is no time for us to endure and tolerate characters who aren't clear on where they stand. The survival of all existence in the universe depends on it.

I think muddying the waters is something that happens in the middle of the story, but by the time we get closer to the end of the narrative, these have to become clear. Like, right now, our enemies are so overwhelming and so powerful that any sort of indecisiveness or shiftiness can be seen as extremely dangerous. There's no more room for staying neutral or playing both sides.

With Drifter in particular though, I'm super hardcore with the belief that his story was always leading to this. It's the natural line of his character arc. He was cool as a shifty guy, but that was just the surface of him as a character. There was always a deeper desire that he followed all of his life; his desire to be safe and his reliance on hope.

He had his doubts in the Light and Ghosts, but he equally doubts the Darkness. He tried both sides and found them both wanting. What he finally realised, is that his place is with the people. He has always been a person eager to help, just afraid of consequences of angering the wrong side. If you remember his early life in the village Eaton, he was hiding his Light, but he could still NOT resist helping; he was using his Ghost to scout the area for food and push animals towards the village hunters.

Even when he was playing with Darkness as a Dredgen, something within recognised that it's not his place when it gave him the name of Dredgen Hope. Similarly, Shin also recognised this and established contact and they forged Gambit together to weed out corruption in Guardians. And finally, he met us, the Young Wolf at the urging of Osiris no less:

“Go home. There’s a Guardian you should meet,” Osiris said.

“Yeah, yeah. Hero. Red War. Can’t wait.”

When he realised that he can trust us AND that we trust him, he finally figured that he can relax for the first time in his life. It was a tipping point. Everyone spent so long telling him about trust and hope and a possible better future and there was nothing to convince him it could be truly real until we came along.

And then of course Eris came to him in Arrivals and that just strengthened the deal. There were people who needed him, people who believed in him, people he could help. Permanently! Hope for a better future was real and it was worth investing into. Light is not the be all end all, we can use Darkness as well to our benefit and he excels in that, but he uses it on our side. There is no other option. He tested them all out and the only one that makes him not feel afraid is our side.

I find his journey absolutely fascinating beyond any other and his development to be one of the best arcs in the whole game. I definitely enjoy Drifter being schemy and shifty, he was a fascinating change of tone in the Tower when he showed up. But I think that keeping him locked into that role would've been a stagnation of his character and not really compelling. Keeping him shifty just for the sake of having a shifty character would just get boring and it would've led nowhere.

It's definitely a change that makes a lot of people miss the old him, but also remember that all of his shifty acting up was mostly a scam. He was meant to pretend to be shady in order to draw people to Gambit and to enact the scheme of figuring which Guardians will fall to corruption. In truth, everyone in the Vanguard knows about the purpose of Gambit and it's been approved.

Either way, for Drifter in particular I will always say that not only was his change necessary for his own benefit (so he could stop being miserable and afraid all his life), it was also the natural conclusion to every hint about his inherent desire to help and his belief in hope. Definitely made us miss the shifty scammer extraordinaire, but I am primarily interested in seeing my fave get better and achieve what he's been looking for for so long.

Could we have gotten some other characters like that after? Possibly. But as I said at the start, super hard to navigate that type of a person when we're dealing with, basically, the end of a story. A shifty character right now would have a hard time fitting in. Spider is still there, but with much less influence. And Clovis is of course Clovis, but his inability to pick a side is what now makes him potentially incredibly dangerous. That's the problem with being shifty right now; even casual flirting with our enemies is lethal.

[judasisgayriot]

hello again! you once again prove yourself as the queen of heroes ramblings. you responded with so much detail so quickly! loveeee it :)

i wanna ask you more, i like getting your mini ted talks. what are your thoughts on sylar/peter as a ship? i personally don’t really see it in the show, but i’ve read some real good fics with them.

Hahaha omg I love you anon I’m glad someone enjoys hearing my unhinged rants about this show…

Soooo. Maybe the girlies will hate me for this one lol. Thing is, I can see how sylar/peter would lend itself to having some good fics written about it. Like, the concept is there, it has potential. The foundations for a good hero/villain ship are there, they are definitely set up as foils and parallels to each other, they have the whole ‘two sides of a coin’ thing going on. But like you, I don’t really see it in the show at all. It’s like they had the potential but didn’t actually execute it/make me give a fuck about it/make me remotely want to ship it, lol.

It is/was a popular ship in heroes fandom (lol heroes fandom in 2024 is like 12 people but hey) and I do see why for the above reasons. I actually think the episode ‘the wall’ is a great concept but again, they don’t sell me on it/execute it well/actually follow through on making me remotely believe they’d become friends by the end. Right before they break out, having spent what was apparently like 10 years of mind-time together in there or whatever, Peter still hates his guts and wants to smash his head in with a sledgehammer lmao?? (I mean girl same. The whole ‘peter has to forgive sylar, narratively and kind of literally, if he wants to escape the mind prison’ plot point grinds my gears. I think he should get to never forgive him ever for killing Nathan if he doesn’t want to lmao. Shout out to that one fan panel with Milo where he’s like ‘peter would never forgive him he would eviscerate him’ king you are speaking my fucking language lol. I digress.) like afterwards I can buy that sylar has latched onto Peter and wants to be his friend/wants Peter to like, model being a good person for him, but not that Peter actually gives a shit in return or wants anything to do with him lol

(Sidenote, that in itself is a rly interesting concept, and me and @buildarocketboys developed a fic idea about peter agreeing to like, ‘mentor’ sylar and hang out with him but if and only if he kept shapeshifting back into Nathan for him. Now THAT is fucked up and deranged and the good stuff and actually makes me, avowed sylar disliker, feel kinda sorry for the guy lol. Yessss let me marinate in the badwrongness of all of that and how Peter is the one acting fully insane. Anyway. I digress once more.)

Anyway I’m clearly also biased bc I used to like sylar as a character back in the day but sometime over my like 4 rewatches over the last few years he really started pissing me off lol. Now it’s not like I’m being an anti about him being an evil villain or anything, I love a problematic king and I’m a Nathan stan lmao. In fact I only really enjoy sylar when he is getting to be a proper fun cackling all-out villain, he’s actually enjoyable and funny in that mode. It’s the like 9 flip-flopped badly written redemption arcs they keep trying to give him like they’re trying to make me feel sorry for him bc his dad sold him to one direction or whatever, but sorry!! I feel nothing! He’s a whiny bitch and they should have just let him be killed off one of the first 900 times it nearly happened! I don’t have any sympathy and he’s completely lost me lol. So yeah. That does make me biased plus being a Petrellicest girlie and a Nathan stan and an Elle stan sorry I selfishly won’t forgive him for killing them 😔 poor baby serial killer I’m being such a mean hater. Stan my absolutely fucking awful morally confused self hating politician guy instead loooool

Well. All that to say that I see why people ship it, it has interesting foundations that could have led to something good but IMO it just didn’t, I can definitely imagine it has some good fic out there that can sell you on it, but I just don’t see their great poetic love or whatever. It’s soooo ‘baby’ ‘fellow associate’ core by the end lmao. And it actively annoys me. But I am just being a hater I know. Sorry to the cool petlars out there it’s all hashtag my opinion

[canonicallyginger]

I have beaten Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Spirit, and honestly? one of the best fangames ive ever played period. The understanding the writer(s) had of the characters is perfection (especially Wigglytuff). The gameplay was pretty damn fun, even if i struggled through the Road To Shaymin Village the entire way. The story concept was amazing, and the exploration of the themes presented in Explorers of Sky was wonderful.

That said, the ending was the part that disappointed me. Big spoilers ahead

The ending was so anti-climactic. The way they negated the stakes before even getting to the final showdown was certainly a choice. I think it would have worked better if Celebi had pointed out that the world isn't ended after the final boss rather than before. Because taking away the stakes takes away most of the excitement.

The fact that there's no room for post-game disappointed me too. There was so much I wanted to be able to explore in this take on the setting. I wanted to be able to see Shaymin Village, and I wanted to have the opportunity to talk to the legendaries that apparently exist without purpose in the setting. If there'd been any post-game at all, i think i would have been less bummed out by the anticlimactic ending.

Also, the player character's disappearance doesn't feel nearly as sad for the partner pokemon. Every official PMD game has made me cry at the ending, but this fangame, which handled the characters so perfectly at every other point in the story, failed to stir up any emotion other than disappointment in the final act.

Also, the way Breloom returned but didn't have any dialogue for the main duo? That was a huge disappointment for me. I just... I feel like they spent so much time developing a truly interesting new character and then they just. didn't give him anything to say about the hero and partner.

But back to the good things-- still spoilers:

When Ampharos and Mawile mentioned in the epilogue that they were moving on to explore other continents, that make me go "IT IS THEM!!! It's THEM! They're in this! I knew i recognized their mannerisms!" because Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon is literally my favorite pokemon game. The way Team AWD is written is also fantastic. Letting the team be morally gray instead of just blandly antagonistic and greedy was really interesting and good. Team Charm being morally gray for the same reasons was great too. The fact that Wigglytuff sent the main duo to Armaldo in hopes of showing them that he doesn't believe anyone is beyond redemption. The way Darkrai gets actual motives!!!!!! The way the partner just chucks the Odd Keystone in the epilogue because of the game's thesis statement of "no such thing as an irredeemable spirit," which was something Explorers of Sky tried to convey but then didn't follow through in the final act. The way Grovyle is clearly not sure what to do with himself in a world that doesn't need saving. The way Celebi is just fucking pissed at him for going on another fucking adventure without even trying to let her know. God, there's so much i can say about this game being amazing and that wouldn't do it justice.

If you've read through all this and haven't seen or played it, then i'm mad at you for ruining the plot by reading these spoilers, but you should still give it a go. You're expected to know the entire plot of Explorers of Sky tho

[bitimdrake]

Do you think there could be a compelling and well-written way for Jason to ever start healing from his trauma? I get the tragedy and all is why so many people like his character and all but it’s been over 18 years since he came back and I’ve grown apathetic to the whole “I died boohoohoo” thing. Idk the way DC is written makes it hard to me to feel the same way I did when he first came back as Red Hood because death is so meaningless in that universe, now more than ever. I feel the same way about Bruce and his whole mess of trauma and want to see them do something new, yknow? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

.

Absolutely!!

I think I end up hammering on the tragedy and angst aspect a lot because it's the part I feel gets most lost--certainly in fluffy batfam fics, but also in DC canon just abruptly declaring him totally part of the family now don't worry about it after Flashpoint. I think the legitimate trauma Jason has, the significant differences in principle with the other bats, and the harm he's done them in turn, have gotten worn down and minimized, and it's a bummer!

But I would like to see him heal from his trauma and like. have a real arc.

That's my biggest problem with Jason in canon thus far*. It's not that he is a hero now and aligned with his family. It's that we never got to see how that really happened. He was a villain one second, and then the universe got rebooted, and suddenly we were supposed to just infer this off-screen development.

(*Thus far being up to where I have read, which is through the New 52. Cannot comment beyond that yet.)

In my dream where I get to rewrite the history of DC, we would have spent like five years watching Jason gradually progress from the remorseless antivillain he became by the end of preboot into someone healthier, with more actual morals, a principled antihero. And working out his various relationships with his family along the way.

Unfortunately, because DC skipped to the end of that theoretical arc without ever actually doing the arc, we're sorta...stuck.

The status quo is where it is. DC can't pretend Jason has been an antagonist this whole time and give him the arc now. Red Hood has been a significant part of the batfamily for years. They can't just insert the 'Jason heals' arc because theoretically he's already done that. But also, so long as we never actually see that arc, it's never truly going to feel resolved.

This is the crux of the Jason Todd problem.

Anyway, I feel you on the death thing as well. When Jason died (I'd argue even when he came back), death was a lot more meaningful and significant. His death really meant something, and his return was a huge shake up.

But since then...everyone's died. And now there's this awkward disconnect between (a) in story, all these people having gone through the traumatic event of dying and returning which should probably be significant for them all, and (b) out of universe, Jason's death being considerably more significant than anyone else's and a core part of the character.

Jason's death can't really be a meaningless joke (though he absolutely can recover from the trauma), because we all know it wasn't; it was a huge deal. But we also can't have all the characters act like his death was significant while a bunch of other death's aren't, because then they just seem insane and myopic. But we can't have everyone act like every death is significant, because then we wouldn't be able to do anything else except reflect on the massive amount of death and trauma around here, plus it would be so hollow to most readers who know a lot of these comic books deaths were just cheap shock value that got immediately reversed. And around and around and around--

It's a fucking mess. I have plenty ideas of how I could fix it in a rewrite (whether fanfic or magic time travel where I Fix DC Comics). But I don't have a lot of ideas of how to fix it now, over a decade after the problem started.

Although, to return to your very first question: even if we can't fix everything, yes, I do think a good writer could give a compelling story of Jason healing from his tragedy, without a doubt. I do think that angle can still be explored and developed, because it has not be closed off.

...the biggest problem there would just be that comics are cyclical, and you know some other writer would come in two years later and revert him back to brooding about his death all the time, because that's the version of the character they're used to.

[sayruq]

Is it just me, or is HOTD trying to paint the Greens as the “villains?” In a span of 2-3 episodes, they’ve done the most to make Aegon II as unlikable as possible. Which I’m not arguing against because he’s nasty in the show. But Daemon can groom his niece, kill his wife, kill a lord (Vaemond) and gets praised for it because he’s Daemon. I thought they would show how both sides can be horrible, but it seems like they’re very pro Team Black for some reason.

It's hard to explain because it's difficult to distinguish between:

the writers focusing on the consequences of one group's actions in order to paint them as terrible people compared to a different group (protagonist-centered morality)

the writers being uninterested in one group and thus spending little effort in their scenes but taking their time with a different group and trying to show who they are

Personally, I believe it's the second case. The main problem with this show is that the writers are incompetent. The choice to have time jumps instead of working with flashbacks or having the characters explain themselves is a dumb one but with good writers, it wouldn't impact the story much. They just aren't good writers. All the characters are two-dimensional at best but the Greens have more development than the Blacks. This is why it's hard to see if they're biased against the Greens or more interested in writing Green scenes.

Daemon killed his first wife and it was glossed over simply because they wanted to explain how he got married a second time. Why he did it and what problems it could cause don't interest the writers because Daemon doesn't interest the writers. He's just there, he does things because Rhaenyra has to be passive and blameless in the name of critiquing the patriarchy.

Same with Viserys. Once the rest of the Greens (except Daeron) showed up, he just became a walking plot device. No more scenes in front of a bonfire explaining his thought process. He now exists for the sake of Alicent and Rhaenyra's toothless conflict.

Aemond could have just taken the dragon but first we saw how he was treated by his uncle and nephews for not having a dragon. Then we saw him have a borderline Disney moment taming the dragon but he was ambushed and maimed. This caused his mother a great deal of pain, it highlighted how much Viserys doesn't care about his children, it even included Aegon who helped Aemond lie about where he heard the Strong rumors. In comparison, we don't see why Daemon hates his wife before he kills her, we don't see why Rhaenyra chose to have children with Harwin (they barely shared scenes and has she even mentioned him since his death?), we barely get a glimpse of Jace's issues with his parentage, etc.

So it's not the writers are glossing over everything team Black does because they want them to be heroes, I'm sure if you ask them, they'll tell you they made Team Black morally grey. For example, when Vaemond died the showrunner said he acted with honor. It's clear the character was meant to be sympathetic but since the show was eager to move on to the dinner party, no time was spent on the aftermath of Vaemond's death.

I could be wrong tho.

[kllshot]

( ji changwook , cis man , he/him ) — amongst the faces lining the staff portrait wall, you recognize RYU JI-HOON, the thirty-six year old professor within the school. having spent four years as a member of the verum staff, students say that they’re reminiscent of abandoned projects of broken wood collecting dust in a spare closet, something between a smirk and a smile highlighting soft features, the coarse and warm smell of pine and oak, quiet and steady waves washing across a midnight shore, and calloused hands with a gentle touch. their charming and easygoing temperament brings color to these halls, but be warned, you may also find them to be secretive and vain. regardless, hopefully they’ll remain when it’s time for verum to open its doors again.

basics.

full name: ryu ji-hoon

nickname: whatevr u wanna call him baby

age: thirty-six

birthday: june 3rd

zodiac sun sign: gemini

gender + pronouns: cis male, he/him

orientation: bisexual / biromantic

birthplace: the capital, clwyd-isle

languages: korean, english, french

occupation: professor of  weaponry theory, woodworking

height: 6'2"

personality.

mbti: esfp ( the entertainer )

moral alignment: chaotic good

+ outgoing, personable, flirtatious, good-natured, intelligent

- self-indulgent, deceptive, impulsive, callous, careless, prideful

character association: arataki itto ( genshin impact), lumiere ( beauty and the beast ), finnick o'dair ( the hunger games), eijiro kirishima ( my hero academia )

khemia: transmutation

personality.

you are born into simplicity, a mother too young and a father who passes away after the birth of his daughter, answers left unexplained for the eternity that your childhood feels. from a young age, you assume life will be linear, that you will attend required schooling and join the army when the time is right. it's unclear until you are the slightest bit older that you present an affinity for khemia. an excellent one at that. your teachers are marveled by how fast your mind seems to go, how the art of transmutation develops faster than most. the simplicity of your life loses its glory all too quickly, a mind without complications inevitably granting you responsibilities you'd never once considered before.

though you excel in your studies while attending verum, you seek change, something grander and greater than being surrounded by knowledge and a job that would only be naturally guaranteed. it is your choice to join the army, to be a fighter rather than to rely on your mind. it is the duty and future you have sought for since a child, the only thing that felt right on the day of your graduation. no one dares to be surprised when you travel up the ranks and solidify yourself as a formidable soldier.

but just as you rise, the danger of falling becomes too great. the shoulder that grew to bear the weight of any weapon in its hands is battered beyond saving, physical therapy never enough to bring it to its former glory. though you are not broken, you are forever bruised, honorably discharged and left to wonder what the next portion of your life will look like, how you will fill the void of responsibility and pride left in your heart.

it feels as if it's a sign when the former professor of weaponry and woodworking gives you a call, a former mentor and beloved professor of yours whom you had remained in contact with. there is a job, his job. even with a shoulder that was forever held by screws, he says that you are the one he wants to take his place. that there is no one he'd feel so confident leaving his work in the hands of.

four years has passed since you've returned to the academy as a professor. though respect is to be gained, you have charmed your way into the minds of everyone you cross. the lines between indulgence and seriousness are something you toy between, the wise and relatable professor your students need, yet the man with a glint in his eyes and an affinity for fun too roams the halls. who you will encounter is simply up to choice.

[quirkwizard]

Other question, who are your favorite chars? Hero, Villain, Major, Minor, doesn't matter just say who and why.

While I appreciate your interest, I'd rather give each topic it's own focus. In this case, I'll stick to villains and I'll start with a few honorable mentions. Just know that this changes with the wind for me, so any one of these could be may favorite sooner or later. I will give the bronze medal to Tomura and Twice. I do like them, but I have issues with how their stories are handled. Silver goes to Stain and Overhaul. I really like them in their arcs, but the fact that they are still in play makes me wants to wait and see before I commit to anything. If you're interested on any of those, feel free to ask.

As surprising as it sounds, I think Number 6 might be my favorite villain. First and foremost, Number 6 has such a cool powerset. "Overclock" is such an interesting Quirk in its own right. An extremely powerful ability that makes him a creditable threat yet an exploitable enough drawback to give our heroes some wiggle room. Every time he showed up for a fight, he always had a new trick to show off, either through a clever usage of "Overclock", a new upgrade to his body, or some combination of the two. However, while his fights were fun, they were usually the last resort. Most of his panel time is spent plotting and attacking the heroes in unique ways, like trying to turn the public against Koichi into a villain or hiding as Pop Step's manager, making him stand out from a lot of other villains we've got.

He's pretty fun to watch as well. Whether it be the calm, collected mastermind, the manic, violent brawler, or one of the many personas he puts on for his plans, he's always entertains and makes you wonder what he's going to do next. He's got a pretty interesting backstory and motivation as well: he wants to be a hero. More importantly, he wants to be someone who inspired him. All of this in the pursuit of simply trying to make some kind of identity for himself, not content to simply be a hollow shell with no real sense of self or of others. It does a good job of giving him a sympathetic backstory without moralizing the character. You can understand how Number 6 ended up the way he did and pity him for what he's become, but he's definitely dangerous and needs to go down.

To me, one of the most important factors in a great villain is one that reflects the hero in some way. Of course, he's got a strong connection to our main heroes. While he starts off more as the nemesis of Knuckleduster, Number 6 is such a fun foil for Koichi. In the end, they were both easily influenced kids who tried to replicate their heroes. What made them different was how they dealt with their situations when they couldn't reach their heroes. Koichi rose throughout his series as a vigilante, learning to better use his powers, helping those around him, and developing as a his own person. Number 6 only fell further and further, letting his obsession with O'Clock pushing him to more extreme means to ruin Koichi's life out of a sense of jealousy, eventually resulting in his death.

[dabistits]

19, 21, 25 for the ask meme!

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

mad that i actually kind of like geten for this one!!!👇

this was so funny. he made a point and i hope he unlearns his family's fucked up bullshit. the himura reveal and discussion about their family values actually makes a lot of sense as far as why he was the only MLA leader who explicitly denigrated people with weak/unsuitable quirks (not that the others didn't, geten was just the most blunt about it). be better please, you can do it.🙏

i've also kind of come around to AFO—not that he's a well-written or morally good character or anything, but he's just kind of funny. in an arc where everyone's grimdark serious his plan is just "yes i'll blow up my minion and then have her leak a false location to the heroes and when they get there i'll blow up that location." that's one of the funniest ways to go about it, thanks dude

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

the whole storyline about the students saving the villains is massively overhyped. it's just not well-written. i don't think there's any textual evidence that any of the students have anything more than a superficial or vague notion of why the villains chose their paths, these are virtually strangers whose hearts the students intend to save.

and while no, i don't think you need to know anyone deeply in order to reach out to them, and in fact you should help strangers! but to argue that somehow you can understand them enough to know what they want "deep down" is paternalistic bullshit.

also in this case "saving," also means stopping, also means sticking them in prison, so uh. how are you saving them, buddy. if you want to stop them and put them in prison then at least be honest about it, don't dress this shit up in the language of kindness. the hypocrisy and lack of time spent actually developing a bond between heroes and villains makes the whole "saving" plot feel hollow.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

i am the fandom complaining blog, imagine being tired of complaints...

ok but a couple years ago there was so much drama around caleb cook's translations for the manga and people often blamed him for things that may have been pushed by the publisher (as a standard for all translations they do, ex: translating yakitori as chicken skewer instead of just using 'yakitori') to more 'major' things that people argued were mistranslated or tonally too soft/too strong, among a myriad of other issues. (he only has as much information as we do, folks, translators don't have a direct line to the mangaka, so sometimes translators just have to make their own judgment call on a specific line.)

yes, sometimes the translations sound weird or janky, you might even be able to argue that some don't get the correct meaning across, but there was so much responsibility pushed onto caleb as though he was the one directing the overall progression of the manga. is it caleb cook or horikoshi's fault that the LOV don't openly declare their deep feelings towards each other?🤔